Blacks Connect has added a range of new legal products and services which are available to intermediary firms themselves and their client base.

The products and services are on top of Blacks’ core residential conveyancing proposition and cover four key areas: commercial; employment; litigation and wills.

Broker firms can use the service themselves or refer their clients to Blacks Connect and receive either a commission or referral fee for the introduction. The range of new services now open to brokers includes:

• Commercial – Blacks Connect acts for clients developing and managing commercial property as well as those making acquisitions and disposals. Brokers simply submit the referral form and, if it is on behalf of a client, they will receive up to 20% commission (minimum £100, maximum £2,000). Blacks promise to provide a quote for the commercial services required within four hours.
• Employment law – Blacks Connect can cover all manner of employment issues such as employment tribunal proceedings, settlement agreements and restrictive covenants and confidentiality issues. Broker users are now also able to take-up, or offer their clients, the Praesidium Employment Law Protection service. Praesidium is a fixed-fee, insurance-backed, employment law protection package providing businesses with an easy to use arrangement which covers all aspects of employment from recruitment to termination.
• Personal and Corporate Litigation – Blacks deals with a wide range of commercial disputes including contractual, property, insurance, building, software and negligence matters. It also has a specialist department experienced in handling personal litigation claims for those who may have already embarked upon a complaint or a claim for compensation resulting from negligence. Brokers can opt to use this service themselves or submit a client referral.
• Wills – Blacks is in the process of trialling an online will-writing service. It is currently under development and will be launched at the end of September offering brokers the chance to earn a referral fee for using Blacks’ will writing and estate planning services.

David Gilman (pictured), partner in charge of Blacks Connect, said: “Our focus, as always, is about making the provision of legal services to the broker and intermediary community as simple and easy to use as possible. The range of products we are rolling out today offers the intermediary community access to much-needed and oft-used legal services not just for their own use but that of their client base.

“Brokers are able to simply refer their client on to Blacks and they will receive either a commission rate or a referral fee depending on the service required.

“These additions to our key conveyancing proposition mean that brokers now have access to top-quality legal expertise across a range of areas, whether that is commercial advice for corporate clients, a bespoke employment law package backed by experts in the field or the opportunity to use our specialist litigation department for both commercial and personal cases. Plus, by the end of the month, all our broker users will have the ability to provide a quick, easy-to-use online will writing service that can provide an online will to the client in less than 20 minutes.

“We have put together these new additions to our proposition with the broker and their client in mind and we believe its scope and ease of use is second to none. Added to the fact that brokers can now earn significant additional income through a simple referral introduction means there is nothing stopping the intermediary community from engaging with, and ensuring, clients have all their legal service needs covered by Blacks.”