After a very busy first few weeks of the new year, I have finally been able to look properly at figures for the Private Client Department and reflect on what an amazing year 2022 was for us as a department.
We managed to achieve around a 36% growth in Court of Protection files alone from 2021 to 2022 and received instructions for over 500 Court of Protection Bills, from General Management Bills, to Statutory Will Bills and Gifting Bills. Those instructions were received from 50 Deputy firms and at least 7 of the Deputies we now deal with are Panel Deputies.
We also welcomed 6 new Clients to the Private Client Department and from those 6 new Clients, we received over 50 instructions, with more to come in 2023.
New Clients and Firms find us in various ways, from LinkedIn or Networking, or we are already connected to the Firm as our Litigation Team has been dealing with their Litigation costs, but by far the most popular way is by recommendation. I think that speaks volumes about the department and is a testament to the hard work put in by the Private Client Team to prepare excellent and very thorough and robust Bills and also to the time they take in Client Care and getting to know Deputies and their Case Workers. At Paramount we encourage the Team to build long lasting relationships with Clients and I think this has shone through in 2022 in particular.
We have also seen some growth in 2022 in the number of Probate Bills we complete, at around 10%, which, considering many firms don’t realise the value we can add here, is fantastic. If you don’t know what we can do for you for Probate, or indeed any Private Client matters, please do get in touch, but essentially, we prepare Bills and Breakdowns in Probate and Private Client matters to give Clients a more accurate picture of their costs to date. We also act as an independent ‘set of eyes’ on matters, which Clients are finding invaluable.
2022 also saw us welcome 3 fantastic new Team members to the department which we were very excited about and they have done amazingly well. They have embraced our ways and our work ethics and their experience and knowledge has been invaluable and has served to enhance that which we already had. Since the start of Covid, as a firm, we have moved away from the traditional 9-5 in the office and embraced a much more flexible way of working. This has enabled us to expand further and welcome new Team members from further afield and so, in the Private Client Department alone, we now have Team members based in the North East, Yorkshire and even as far south as Bristol, as well as the usual Team based in and around Carlisle. This enables us to have a ‘presence’ as it were in these areas that we have not been able to have before and we are very much looking forward to where this may take us.
So, although we had fantastic growth last year, we will not be resting there! Our aim is to continue to expand the Private Client Department, but still delivering the same excellent, thorough and robust Bills and Client Care. Watch this space!!
Christine Marsh, Private Client Director