A NEW Legal Helpline for your Business

Dear Fellow Business Owner

To quote the famous words of Charles Dickens; “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Right now there are many business people struggling, worrying and hurting in this business world. We are in the midst of a recession of unprecedented severity and complexity. I am old enough to have lived through three recessions and I can’t remember anything like this one.

I acknowledge the horrible truth – but don’t want to dwell on it.

You and I have something much more important to talk about…

What is it?

It is…

A service that will make you immune to the stress and worry of this workaday world.

But before I share how this could be one of the greatest, most valuable and useful tools for your business, you need to know a bit more about me, because when (dare I say ‘not if’) you decide to go forward with this idea we are going to get to know each other pretty well…

Who am I?

My name is Gwyneth Allsopp, I am a Solicitor. My formal title is Solicitor of the Supreme Court and I have a BA LAW (Hons) degree.with over 25 years of legal, practical experience – 10 years of which have included running my own businesses.

I take part in Board meetings and give real, positive, practical value. Many times business owners and entrepreneurs ring me with an issue.

So how does this help you?

Just like you, I love business and for many of my clients I am a sounding board, somewhere to leave the stresses of a decision. I am an objective adviser. I give advice personally and on the phone.

More importantly I am in business myself with The Law Practice (UK) Ltd, and I had a business in the 90’s which grew to employ 20 people in three years and I have been in legal Partnerships in other firms.

I have worked alongside businesses for 25 years and hundreds of times clients have brought their problems to me.

For too many of those hundreds I ha…

BOOM! Ouch! That sound was somebody, somewhere treading on a legal-landmine!…

Where was I? Oh, yes – for 25 years clients have brought their problems to me – ironically, a vast majority of these problems were to do with treading on a legal landmine!

And for too many of those hundreds I have thought;

“If only you had talked to me sooner. Things just wouldn’t have got this bad!”

Often and often, I have sat at my desk listening with my head in my hands in despair.

And if I am in despair just listening – the despair of the client can’t be imagined.

And when I talk about things getting bad – I mean as bad as it can get:- bankruptcy, mass redundancy, loss of the family home – prison – you name it!

In fact, looking back, those whose loss was only financial (even though it was enough to burn a hole in a clowns pocket) could count themselves lucky (compared to some)!

Of course it is easy to protect yourself against landmines – and I bet it’s not what you think it is…

Get a pointy stick and crawl very, very, slowly?…

I remember watching a news report where two soldiers where crawling on their hands and poking the ground in front of them with a sharp stick wired up to an impressive looking hand-held computer-thingy to see if there were any mines laid were the 1,000 man strong battalion they were leading where about to cross.

Basically, a very, very slow, scary, and expensive procedure with an element of the unknown thrown in just to make the whole exercise even more unpalatable.

And this got me thinking…..

Is this the reason why legal advice is never sought before a minefield is entered? (assuming people actually know they are about to head into one?)

Is it because quite frankly we solicitors are also too slow, too expensive, and throw in the unknown just for good measure?

Hands up! I’m the first to say that some of that despair is not helped by the way historically Solicitors provide Legal services. It is sadly the norm that when a business person has a problem (sometimes unexpected – sometimes not) it goes like this…

The story of John and BIG problem…

The businessman in our story is called John and John has a big and embarrassing (legal) problem…

Trouble is, John doesn’t have any relationship with a Solicitor, so asks his mates for a recommendation, goes on Google or he rings the nearest firm of Solicitors.

John explains the problem (which remember is very embarrassing) to the receptionist, then to a Secretary and then maybe to a Solicitor. John is then given an appointment with the Secretary for the Solicitor in a week’s time (7 days to worry about the problem even more…).

The appointment date is unmovable because the Solicitor is ‘too busy’ and the Secretary doesn’t respond to the urgency – after all she has heard it all before.

So a week goes by… A week of even more stress and worry!

(GASP!….)

The appointment time finally arrives and if John is fortunate and has explained his problem clearly enough to the Receptionist and the Secretary his appointment will be with the Solicitor who can actually help him. If not… there is another long wait…

But John is ‘lucky’ he does actually manage to sit in front of a solicitor who can help!

So does John come out of his meeting feeling happy, relieved, ‘in-control’, all three even?

No of course not! Poor John has just been bombarded which a load of muttered legal jargon – truth be told the only thing he came out of the meeting feeling assured about was the certainty of the feeling that he had no real guidance whatsoever.

Fortunately, your experience will be nothing like this one – (YAY!)

Why? I am going to talk to you about how I developed a Legal helpline that gives you prompt Legal advice at an incredibly amazing price.

In the beginning…..

There was time. Time to think about how my new company, The Law Practice (UK) Ltd would be groundbreaking in its approach to our clients and how it would package and provide its services.

I really wanted to be different, I knew all about the old model of how solicitors’ approached their business and knew that quite simply it suited the solicitors more than you, the client!

I have talked to 100’s of clients, business people, ordinary people, consultants and each told me that the old model left them feeling worried, stressed and exposed.

Not only did they have the original problem they also had the added problem of unknown legal fees.

So, I developed a ground breaking way to get expert legal help just when you need it, without leaving your office at a price that it frankly incredible (in a good way).

I wanted to provide a service that could really make a difference….

Here’s the difference

One day I took a call from a client who had Bailiffs in his factory!

The Bailiffs were preparing an inventory so that on their next visit in a few days they could bring a very large van and take everything away!

I told the client what to do there and then.

The Bailiffs left without their inventory. We made a detailed application to the Court and at the end of the Court process the client didn’t have to pay anything and he still had his business.

AND the other side of the coin…

Have you ever been in the situation that you just act – you felt you just had to make a decision there and then and worry about any potential consequences later?

One company director I now did just that. His business was suffering badly. It desperately needed more sales. The salesman was out on the road, he was paid a fortune and quite frankly, was not selling anything.

The company director arranged to meet him in a pub car park and sacked him on the spot. True!

Long story short – It cost him £££’s thousands to put all to rights!

Imagine if he had called a solicitor on his way to the Pub Car park? That short phone call could have told him where he stood as an employer and what employee rights he could be breaking.

Quite often it’s not the destination that’s the problem, it’s the route that people take.

All he had to do was to take one single, simple action – but just like I said earlier it would have been too slow – too expensive to justify in his mind.

And so from that day on, I knew I hand to find away to alleviate these fears and make good legal advice to be not only easily and quickly available but it has to be at an accessible cost (and I bet it’s not what you think it is)…

I am talking about a Legal helpline that gives you prompt Legal advice at an incredibly amazing price.

I don’t know about you but when I read information like this I always say to myself:

What’s in it for me?

As a Solicitor I am delighted to answer that – what is in it for you?

• You get practical Legal advice

• You get the advice you need

• You get advice exactly when you need it

• You get advice quickly

• You get good quality legal advice

• The advice is from a qualified Legal professional

• You are not talking to a call centre

• You are not talking to someone with a script in front of them

• You will be talking to the same person each time

• You get advice from a legal team who know you

• You get advice from a Legal team who know your business

• The number of times you can call us in unlimited

• Issues move on – you don’t need to be worried about increasing fees

• You get advice in English – not Legal

• You get a real service

• If you need us to work for you our fees are agreed with you up front.

• You can call us as many times as you need to

• The price of the Helpline is fixed

• You have certainty over the cost

• You can budget for it

• You get unrivalled value for money

• You get a legal team that is itself in business

• Your Legal team understands your issues.

• Our aim is to remove the stress and worry

• We understand the value of information.

• We have been stressed and worried in business

• Currently we have over 60 years cumulative business experience

So here’s the price…

I am one of these very sad people who sit pondering things in their quiet pondering corner. As my ponderings’ ponder along I find myself wondering if you realise that my Hourly charge as a senior Solicitor is £196.00 plus VAT.

That is why The Legal Helpline is ground breaking and totally awesome!

And what’s more in one of your unlimited phone calls I will give you at least one piece of information that will be invaluable and priceless for your business - GUARANTEED

This helpline is not just lip service…

With The Legal Helpline you are not calling a call centre – you are calling your Solicitor.

Telephone us during our normal office hours of 9.00 – 5.00 Monday to Friday except

Bank Holidays and you will receive experienced Legal advice and assistance from one of our team.

I will be your senior Solicitor and I will primarily be responsible for handling your calls.

It may be that I am not the best person to advise you given the nature of your query in which case you will receive telephone assistance from another experienced member of the team.

In this way the team and I will get to know you and your business.

In the event that I or the best person to help you is not be able to give you immediate attention you will be advised as to when you can expect a call back and in the vast majority of cases this will be the same working day.

How many times can you call me in a year?

Once we have accepted you as a member of the Legal Helpline you can call us as many times as you need to. There is no limit.

How much exactly will it cost?

Your membership fee is calculated annually from when you first become a member of the helpline service. You will pay a maximum of £147.00 plus VAT per membership year.

The actual fee you pay is shown on the promotional material from which you have taken this link. We will hold that fee for you for your first two years of membership. After that we may need to revisit the fee and will agree any change in the fee with you.

When do I pay and how?

You pay as soon as you want the service to begin. You pay the whole yearly amount in one payment.

Our preferred methods of payment are:

• Through PayPal. Just click the Paypal button on this site and follow the instructions

• By Bank transfer to the following account: HSBC Bank Plc, The Law Practice (UK) Ltd client account. Sort Code 40 -42-12. Account number 93664686

• By cheque payable to The Law Practice and sent to Cambrai Court, 1231 Stratford Road, Hall Green Birmingham B28 9AA.

I am sorry we can’t offer the service if payment is outstanding in full or part.

What is not included?

This is a telephone helpline service. We will do our best to advise you by telephone relying on the information you give us at that time. The service does not extend to our doing any actual work such as letter writing etc. If you require a further level of service we will be happy to discuss that with you and agree a fee and a timescale for that work which is separate from the Helpline fee and is invoiced separately.

Please note there are some areas of Law we do not cover. At the moment these are Family, (Matrimonial) and Crime including Road Traffic. Although, we will not offer you any advice in these areas we can sometimes suggest Solicitors who may be able to help you.

We are sorry but we cannot answer any queries you raise with us on behalf of a non-member of the Legal Helpline service

Who will we act for?

We can accept into membership of the Legal Helpline a single business whether it is a sole trader, Limited Company or Partnership. Our advice covers that business only.

We will take calls and give advice to no more than two people from that business. This is to assist with client care and to avoid any internal confusion. Those two people must be designated by the business and should be the people who complete the Personal information form included with your application. Ideally those people are the business Directors or owners.

In the event that a business wishes to join the legal helpline which has more than one branch or office then each branch or office must join the Legal helpline separately and complete the formalities. If we receive calls for assistance from a branch or office which has not joined individually we reserve the right to refuse to give advice or assistance. Primarily this is a legal helpline for business. Accordingly, we reserve the right, at our absolute discretion, not to extend this service to employees of the business or the family of the business owners.

What happens if I want or need more work doing?

We will talk to you honestly and openly about any work you need. You may for example want to chase some debts, have employment contracts drawn up, change your terms and conditions, buy or sell a house, lease premises or make a Will.

We will give you a written quotation for this work. The quotation will either be an agreed fee for the specific piece of work or we will give you an overall estimate and then more specific estimates for sections of the work. It is very difficult, for example for us to accurately price a piece of Court work as we do not know what could be involved. You will receive a separate letter detailing who will undertake this work, their hourly charging rate and the fee estimate.

We will agree this fee with you before we begin any additional work and if the cost is likely to be more than a few hundreds we can help you spread the cost with one of our ‘MyBusinessLawyer’ packages.

Sometimes we will require a payment in advance for that work if we have to pay outside suppliers, such as barristers.

What if I want to use other solicitors?

Should for any reason you wish to appoint a different firm of solicitors to act on any legal advice we give you through the Legal helpline you are perfectly at liberty to do so. Members of the Legal Helpline are not ‘tied-in’ we like to be instructed to work on merit rather than small-print.

So…where do we go from here?

Let me summarise…..

• Unlimited telephone calls

• Unlimited telephone advice

• Advice from a team of Lawyers

• Practical, proactive advice

• Advice in English – not Legal

• Information takes away worry

If you’re ready then you can quickly and easily join right now!

Cards on the table!

If you’re still reading this then I’d guess you’re definitely interested but you have one BIG QUESTION stopping you from joining our Legal Helpline.

I am sure you are asking yourself why on earth I am offering unlimited telephone access to a team of Lawyers for as little as £147.00 +vat a year. Especially when I have just told you what my hourly rate is £197+VAT

Well there is a very good reason…

And as a firm we are committed to being frank and truthful. So the reason is we expect you will be so pleased and delighted with the friendly way we conduct the phone calls and the practical and realistic advice you receive that you go on to instruct us to do actual work for you. We know we will agree a price and a price structure with you for that work which will delight you.

We want you to be our ambassadors out in the business world.

And so on that basis we are happy to make you this offer of telephone support.

And just in case that was not enough to tempt you – how’s this for peace of mind…

From Derek Trotter to Gandhi…

Remember, the thing about legal landmines is no one is safe. Commonsense dictates that’s those who tread where they are not supposed to will inevitably step on a legal-landmine, however whilst this is true, even the most honourable and well-intended in business all too often need some drastic commercial trauma litigation surgery!

Yes, legal landmines are everywhere and often the damage is not instantaneous – the fuse to a legal landmines often has a long fuse, meaning the damage comes long after the device is detonated.

Many business owners are aware of this, but till now, getting the needed legal advice was too slow, too expensive – so the Ostridge approach was commonplace!

Well – you don’t need to be an Ostridge any longer, it is now safe to poke your head out without it costing you a fortune…the one single simple action is to click here

Thank you for your time in reading this.

Warm regards

Gwyneth Allsopp
Solicitor

P.S. Trust me you won’t find anything else to match this awesome offer go ahead and take advantage of it. Unlimited Legal telephone advice for your business for £147.00 plus VAT a year.

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© 2009 The Law Practice. All rights reserved.

The Law Practice is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)

Contact Us: The Law Practice UK Ltd, Cambrai Court, 1231 Stratford Road, Hall Green Birmingham B28 9AA

Tel 0121 7782371 | Fax 0121 7785685 | Email:info@lp-uk.com

Registered in England No 063 08870