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31 March 2021 / Mark Rowlands
Issue: 7927 / Categories: Features , Profession , Legal services , Covid-19
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Lessons from lockdown: strong relationships are key

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Mark Rowlands, CEO Lamb Chambers, shares some insights on best practice for ‘virtual’ client communications
  • Outlines marketing and client relationship lessons learned during the pandemic.
  • Avoid adding to screen overload by making sure communications add value.
  • Ensure legal service and client care remain a top priority.

Establishing and cementing personal relationships is a major part of creating business partnerships, particularly in service industries like law. A strong business relationship is centred around many different aspects, such as specialist knowledge, service quality, value for money, adaptability, transparency, reliability and trust. When we suddenly went into lockdown in March last year due to COVID-19, the inability to meet clients face-to-face and create personal connections had a big impact on client relationships.

Virtual/remote interaction

During lockdown we were all thrust into the virtual space: for the first time entertaining clients via video conferencing facilities. Virtual client events such as quiz nights, beer/wine/cheese tastings, yoga classes, book clubs, happy hours, networking parties, fireside chats etc, that started

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NEWS
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
Recent allegations surrounding Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have reignited scrutiny of the ancient common law offence of misconduct in public office. Writing in NLJ this week, Simon Parsons, teaching fellow at Bath Spa University, asks whether their conduct could clear a notoriously high legal hurdle
A landmark ruling has reshaped child clinical negligence claims. Writing in NLJ this week, Jodi Newton, head of birth and paediatric negligence at Osbornes Law, explains how the Supreme Court in CCC v Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2026] UKSC 5 has overturned Croke v Wiseman, ending the long-standing bar on children recovering ‘lost years’ earnings
A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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