The Legal Services Act comes into force shortly which, in a
nutshell, is aimed at bringing the legal sector into the
21st Century. This means trying to make law more
accessible, cheaper and dynamic for the average person. If
Carslberg did Law - how would they do it? We are likely to
see the rise of firms such as Tesco Law, RAC Law, and online law
like www.LawontheWeb.co.uk
and www.everythinglegal.co.uk.
I think it will be great for consumers but I fear for the High
Street Solicitor. This is what I think will happen:
- Big corporate firms will not be touched. Corporate
clients are willing to pay for great advice and the likes of
Osborne Clarke and Burges Salmon will be fine.
- The large firms like Lyons Davidson and Irwin Mitchell who get
most their work from insurance company referrals will be fine
because those insurance companies will either buy these law firms
or be so dependent on them (because they have already demanded a
'deal'), that their relationship will remain unchanged.
- The smaller regional firms like Burroughs Day and High Street
Firms will be demolished. I would love to be proved wrong on
this but they will be competing with Tesco and do not offer club
card points.
The reason I think this is great overall is that consumers will
benefit. No more solicitors charging £225 an hour and you
feeling guilty for asking for a prompt reply. No more
unclear, sitting on the fence and 'jacks of all trades'.
Solicitors will have to keep up and deliver the goods.
Just a few months ago I had a number of clients to refer to a
law firm (which I will not name) based only 10 minutes walk
away. I invited them to meet with me to discuss these
cases/clients and the partner in charge refused to walk to our
offices. It was his office or nowhere... and this was me
referring work to his firm!
This needs to change. I am not saying it is pride,
arrogance or anything else ugly like that but it did leave me
feeling like I was not important at all. If a firm comes
along that is pro-active and offers to buy me a coffee at Cafe Nero
they will win hands down.
One thing is for sure though, this is probably going to be the
biggest shake up in the law society's history.
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