From email scams to a four-day work week trial, we bring you a collation of key updates for November 2022.
Law Firms rely heavily on referrals and word of mouth
A recent survey conducted by a cloud-based legal practice management software provider, Smokeball, showed how smaller law firms across Australia rely on referrals and word of mouth compared to other sources.
84% of respondents considered referrals the most sought method to attract new clients or matters, with word of mouth following closely at 82%. Apart from these two popular methods, networking (64 per cent), the firm’s website (48 per cent), and social media (34 per cent) were the following preferred sourcing methods.
“We see a lot of smaller law firms struggle with the skills, experience, and investment required to create successful newer market channels through digital, advertising, and social media campaigns,” said Bianca Bowron-Cuthill, General Manager of Smokeball.
Telstra blocks 332 million scam emails every month
Recently, ACCC’s Scamwatch revealed that the number of scams is on the rise, with a 90 per cent increase in losses this year between January to September compared to the last year.
Under Telstra’s “Cleaner Pipes” initiative, which also blocks SMS and phone call scams, emails are being stopped at a rate of about 7600 per minute, equivalent to 332 million emails a month. As per Scamwatch’s statistics, the top three most reported scams were phishing (50,015 reports), false billing (16,263 reports), and online shopping scams (13,068 reports).
For more information on the numbers and tips for protecting yourself, click the ‘Read More’ link below.
SMS scams on the rise
With an increasing number of email scams, SMS is another popular medium for scammers. Despite reducing scam phone calls by Australian Telcos, SMS remains an issue.
Scamwatch claimed that between 1 January and 13 November this year, phone scams decreased by 61% from 135,400 in 2021 to 57,400 this year. Telcos have blocked more than 549m calls since the scam code was introduced. However, scam SMS reports are up 5% from January to mid-November.
Telcos are working on the problem, wherein an Optus spokesperson confirmed that 10m SMS were blocked between July and September this year.
Four-day work week garnering federal parliamentary attention
Over 30 companies across Australia and New Zealand participated in the four-day week global pilot program that’s also been trialled in the US, UK, and Ireland.
Momentum Mental Health chief executive Debbie Bailey said her organisation had reaped the benefits of a four-day week. She noted that this trial positively affected both productivity and staff satisfaction.
This pilot program is under global supervision; however, it has attracted the federal parliament’s attention. The chairwoman of the Select Committee for Care and Work, Senator Barbara Pocock, said, “We certainly need to look at least minimising the long hours of work which affects so many men and fathers, and look at innovation to reduce the working week, where it’s sensible.”
Australia Post restarts international sea mail ahead of Christmas
Australia Post paused its international mail operation in October 2022 with hopes of clearing the backlog. The process resumed seven weeks after the block was placed.
“We know that the temporary suspension inconvenienced some of our overseas and local customers and have worked tirelessly to restart the service. We are confident that our collaborative efforts between Australia Post, our border agencies, and international partners will reduce the amount of prohibited items coming into Australia,” Australia Post said in a statement.
About Law Image: Law Image is a leading document management company. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Melbourne, we have offices in Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth. Law Image support law firms and government departments across Australia with end-to-end legal document management solutions.
For Marketing & Branding inquiries, contact:
Siddhi Chavan (communications@lawimage.com)
Marketing & Communications Strategist
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