The right attitude - Kempner & Partners

Jason Dainty, of Kempner & Partners, believes that transparency was the key to the success of the firm’s recent visit from the Practice Standards Unit (PSU).

He explains, “Once we got over the initial apprehension, we looked at the visit as an opportunity to confirm that we were on the right track after 18 months in practice.  All three partners came from large firms and we quickly recognised that we needed to get a handle on all the practice management detail that had been delegated to whole departments in our previous lives."

“We were a little surprised that we didn’t have more time to prepare – just seven to ten days – and when we asked for a week’s postponement because of holiday commitments we were informed quite curtly that ‘we don’t do that’.  So I put my holiday plans on hold and set about pulling together all the information requested in the standard letter.  This consisted of a lever arch file containing our practicing certificates, indemnity insurance, office account ledgers, AML and equality policies etc all neatly presented with file dividers.  Quill Pinpoint played an important part at this stage, as we had no difficulty extracting the financial information required.  In addition, we took the opportunity to conduct a firm wide audit of our files, which took some time but enabled me, as the partner with responsibility for the audit, to become fully aware of the work of the firm as a whole."

“The visit lasted a day and a half and one of the first things the auditor asked for was our folder and the list of all our files and ledgers. We spent the first two hours talking about our practice and where we had come from.  I think that being open, honest and frank and engaging with this initial interview is crucial, because I suspect the auditor was looking deep into our eyes to see if we had anything to hide."

“The second half of day one and the following morning were spent reviewing the 20 files the auditor requested.  We didn’t know in advance which ones, but got them to her promptly, which I hope gave a good impression.  As one would expect, she quizzed us on money laundering obligations, conflicts policies, training obligations and the like.  I think that it’s important to ensure, and to be able to demonstrate, that you have a good handle on the regulatory issues and take them seriously.  Don’t be blasé or defensive, because if they find issues, and find you to be diligent, they’re there to help."

"We were delighted that the outcome of the visit was a short hand-written pro forma report mentioning a few minor admin issues, such as adding an extra piece of information to our retainer letter.  Apparently this was only the second time in six months that this short report had been appropriate for our particular auditor.  Normally a longer, more comprehensive report follows within a couple of weeks of the visit, detailing all the shortfalls found."

“The thing to bear in mind is that neither outcome needs to be a problem.  Adopt the right attitude and accept that the PSU is not just a scrutineer - it’s there to help you,” concludes Jason.

Kempner & Partners is a niche practice, based in Leeds, specialising in Intellectual Property.

www.kempnerandpartners.com