Ursula Rice
Ursula Rice is a solicitor and solicitor'advocate, practising in the field of family law. She is the owner and manager of Family First Solicitors Limited, a start- up firm specialising in family work. She was an early adopter of unbundled services, successfully marketing this innovative method of retaining and developing business since 2011. She has written and lectured on the business of family law for Resolution, SJ Live, the Law Society Gazette and various other publications and local radio. Ursula lectures for the University of West of England on the Legal Practice Course and takes a particular interest in the mentoring and development of young lawyers.
Ursula is the press officer for the Oxfordshire regional branch of Resolution and the founder of the Family Duty Clinic, an Oxford Court based Law Works Pro Bono clinic and winner of the inaugural national Pro Bono Centre award 2013.
Ursula contributed to Practice Notes in LexisPSL Family on the business of family law.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
7 Contributions by Ursula Rice
PRACTICE NOTES
Building visibility and credibility: a practical networking and business development guide for family lawyers
The aim of networking and business development is not to secure sales, harvest leads or push a promotion. Trying to achieve those outcomes by meeting people one by one is an inefficient route. Rather, the role of networking is to raise the visibility and credibility of your firm and of individual lawyers. As a by-product, it will often create a trusted web of contacts and suppliers.
First steps
Before you tackle networking for the first time, take these essential, practical preliminaries:
Consider where your firm sits in the market, and if there is a marketing department, speak to them — they will be pleased to help lawyers convey the firm’s message.
In a firm without a marketing department, work out what distinguishes the firm from others — is it a legal attribute such as international expertise or in-house advocacy? Or is it something practical, for example offering a free half-hour interview?...
Family
PRACTICE NOTES
Charging and Funding Family Law Services: Contract Terms, SRA, Law Society and Legal Ombudsman Guidance, Fee Models and Payment Options (England and Wales)
This Practice Note examines how family law services are priced and funded, addressing contractual terms, regulatory obligations under the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regime, and guidance from the Law Society and the Legal Ombudsman. It also considers charging models, including fixed fees, hourly rates, blended rates, and approaches such as ‘unbundling’...
Contractual relationship
The service contract between solicitor and client is central to the professional relationship. Managed effectively, it can enhance standing; mishandled, it may strain the relationship and expose the firm to financial loss and reputational harm. This Practice Note outlines the core principles and practical management of fees and funding in family cases...
Cash flow underpins every practice. For family lawyers, the key questions are what to charge and the mechanism for doing so. A practice must remain profitable, as sustained unprofitability can jeopardise the firm. When reviewing charging, practitioners should consider:
The terms of business, namely the contractual relationship with the client
Payment structures for services, such as hourly rates, fixed fees, and similar models
How payments will be requested and received for the work undertaken
The foundation of the solicitor–client retainer is contractual...
Family
PRACTICE NOTES
Developing a solicitor-led family advocacy offering: compliance, training, unbundling, fees and practical court guidance (England and Wales)
Mastering advocacy forms a strand of solicitor training, yet many seldom deploy it in practice. Structured modules feature in the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), Legal Practice Course (LPC) and Professional Skills Course (PSC), but, when set beside the Bar, the provision is slight. Before April 2013, legal aid family cases generated ample advocacy openings, particularly for junior lawyers, to build confidence so they could carry it into their work as they moved to senior roles, but the excision of so much from legal aid’s scope has meant chances to practise advocacy are shrinking. This Practice Note examines advocacy in terms of training and business development rather than detailed practical techniques. It does not address courtroom mechanics or the granular craft of delivery.
Why should a practice develop advocacy as a service?
Expanding the service available to clients is likely to be welcomed and, from the client’s standpoint, there are several advantages. In real terms, benefits for clients are clear and obvious. The clearest is continuity of adviser. A client may feel less concerned about engaging separate professionals, i.e. solicitor and barrister, for such a personal issue, and that the individual with the fullest knowledge of their situation is going to...
Family
PRACTICE NOTES
Improving profitability in family law firms: SRA obligations, cash flow, pricing, time recording, leads, technology and outsourcing (England and Wales)
All family practitioners ought to approach their work with a commercially minded approach to practice. Partners must ensure the firm as a whole turns a healthy profit, heads of department must deliver a profitable team, and each individual must be profitable to safeguard their business, their team or their role. Although making major changes to systems can be culturally or personally difficult, smaller, incremental actions that lift profit margins are usually far more attainable for virtually any practice. This Practice Note sets out practical suggestions designed to strengthen performance at both personal and firm-wide scale.
Professional obligations
The SRA Standards and Regulations apply. The key requirements set out within the SRA Standards and Regulations comprise the following:
Principles
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, registered European lawyers (RELs), registered foreign lawyers (RFLs) and registered Swiss lawyers (RSLs)
Code of Conduct for Firms
Accounts Rules
Glossary
The SRA Accounts Rules set out how firms should keep clients’ money safe and are contained within the SRA Standards and Regulations. For more detail, see Practice Note: The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regime for family lawyers...
Family
PRACTICE NOTES
Instructing Counsel: Practical Guidance on Selection, Briefing, Hearings, Fees, Standard Terms, Direct Access and Complaints (England and Wales)
Engaging counsel to represent a client calls for careful, considered planning and thorough preparation. Counsel’s function is to deliver impartial, objective guidance and to exercise the craft of advocacy for the client. While they work within the wider team, they also reinforce and augment the advice first given by the instructed solicitor, adding a valuable independent perspective throughout the matter. This Practice Note explains how to brief counsel so the client secures the greatest possible advantage from their involvement...
Choosing counsel and reasons to instruct
Keep a curated and frequently updated list of approved counsel at hand. In family work, what is often described as a strong ‘bedside manner’ is especially significant. Clients may feel extremely vulnerable, and the presence of a dazzling yet curt professional could be entirely unsuitable for that client. You may need to consider instructing leading counsel; in some cases, leading counsel will readily agree to act without the added cost of a junior assisting. The sooner counsel is brought into a matter, the greater the benefit derived from their advice...
Family
PRACTICE NOTES
Managing workload and wellbeing in family law: prioritisation, delegation and body-clock aligned productivity
For the family lawyer, time is a precious currency. Across the profession, the focus has only lately begun to move from billing hours towards delivering ‘a great job’, encouraged by the steady roll-out of fixed fees across the market. Nevertheless, the greater the number of ‘great jobs’ completed in a lawyer’s day, the more profitable the firm and the individual family lawyer. Everyone appears to be pushed to achieve more in fewer hours. So how can family lawyers keep on top of their caseload while remaining content with their work–life balance?
The human body-clock, concentration and productivity
Only a limited number of hours in any day are truly, consistently productive. Our bodies follow an internal circadian rhythm, meaning each of us experiences periods when we are more, or less, effective. Being mindful of this inner clock allows a family lawyer to schedule tasks, and structure the day, to suit those peaks and troughs. Many people notice that the most effective window often falls in the early to mid-morning. Others recognise—and sometimes fear—the afternoon dip, typically about an hour after eating, when sustaining focus can be a challenge...
Family
PRACTICE NOTES
Unbundled/PAYG Family Law and Limited Retainers: Risks, Case Law, Fees, Advocacy and SRA/Law Society Guidance (England and Wales)
As legal aid has been withdrawn from much of family law, and with tough economic conditions plus greater competition, more family practitioners may look to provide unbundled services. Overall, the expense of operating a practice, including overheads, has risen. Conversely, many clients seek to reduce their legal spend, whether out of need or because the wider availability of legal information encourages some to handle parts of their matter themselves. As a result, some will deal with elements of their case in person, seeking targeted input only when necessary. Pay As You Go, or unbundled advice and assistance (including advocacy), can help to close this gap.
What is it?
Essentially, unbundling involves providing specific, limited legal advice and support to a client who is acting in person. Each piece of work is delivered as a discrete, self-contained task focused precisely on what is needed at that stage.
A straightforward checking service.
One-off advice.
Advocacy in a case.
A more organised 'Pay As You Go' (PAYG) arrangement, where the client seeks the solicitor’s input at different stages during the proceedings and pays for each piece of advice as it is received, with every session treated as a discrete event...
Family
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