As always with these events, I arrive with my exhibitors head on and leave with my former practitioner’s one thinking long and hard on all that I have heard. Let me say from the top of this piece that I am a great believer in the UK legal profession and the work it does for its clients albeit that I am baffled by its almost wilful denial of the challenges in front of it. Someone yesterday likened it to watching a man shoot himself in both feet with one bullet.

And there are good reasons as to why the profession is in this frame of mind. Undoubtedly it is vexed and tried beyond belief by the constant pace of change and the raft of professional bodies, politicians and experts telling lawyers how it is and what they must do about it. Equally, not everyone understands why things need to change so radically. Most of all it is that word change. Few people are predisposed to enjoying too much change and lawyers are naturally conservative on the subject.

I heard both John Wotton and Charles Plant remind their audience about market forces in an almost plaintive tone of voice. In stark words: “You cannot override market forces …. We cannot secure your future for you, you must secure your own future.”
And they are so right, which makes it even worse for those who have to listen and adapt. Imagine being told that what is coming may well dilute our current notion of what a law firm is when you have spent half your career in the current construct and are hoping it will see you out and contribute to your retirement. It leaves that horrible feeling at the back of your mind that things won’t work out the way you imagined or indeed were promised and that isn’t a good thing.

The over-riding feeling within the profession is that such changes are a no-go for high street firms and that we are all talking to the wrong firms when we discuss ABS and everything else.

The truth is that we aren’t. We are talking to the right firms because each one of you is exactly the kind of firm that has the experience and ability to give clients both what they want and what they need. Countless management gurus will charge you a pretty sum to tell you that you cannot stop change, it’s happening anyway and you will make life a lot easier for yourself if you go with it and work out how to make it pay for you. Resistance is ultimately futile as it takes more energy to maintain a position that refuses to yield in the face of change and this stance will ultimately yield little profitable return.

So maybe it’s time to think about a plan of action that is more baby steps than grand panic or total objection?

photo courtesy of Mike Quinn’s Profile on geograph.or.uk

“The question is, how will ABS impact on you as some people have some very exciting plans …. Where is the competition?”
Charles Plant, Chair of the SRA 17th October 2011

This was the thoughtful challenge set by Charles Plant near the close of his address to the Sussex Law Society conference. He mentioned two headline examples of how ABS is guiding large businesses, confirming that the Co-op will almost certainly be a certified ABS in January 2012 and that Irwin Mitchell was close to securing £50m of external investment. It would be very easy to assume that this has nothing to do with the average high street firm until these businesses open up an office next to yours. 

The SRA Chair made the valid point that organisations like the Co-op will only do the work they can do commercially. They will cherry-pick conveyancing, wills and any work that is easily commoditisable and has a low cost of entry. This affects all firms directly. If clients are more attracted by the offering of the Co-op and their ilk, high street firms will see the profitable basis of their practice leeching away and not available any longer to support the other work that they do.

“The profession needs to adapt. There is a market and the regulator cannot impose on it”. In other words, the SRA cannot force the Co-Op to take on the less commercial work that legal firms currently do as a quid pro quo for getting their hands on the profitable stuff. All the SRA can so is ensure that all ABS firms are subject to the same regulatory rules as law firms, thus enabling a totally level playing field.

Mr Plant gave the delegates a good outline of the new outcome focused regulatory framework and urged everyone to get to grips with it a little faster than they currently are. Again he seemed to echo in tone the underlying feeling that solicitors aren’t moving fast enough on any front. He made the point that OFR is a deliberate move away from a totally prescriptive approach, whilst acknowledging in some areas (notably the Solicitors Accounts Rules) this was still essential. He stated twice that there would be “no more nitpicking by the SRA”, commenting that lawyers are an intelligent profession and it isn’t for the SRA to tell them exactly how to manage risk within their firms.

photo courtesy of Mike Quinn’s Profile on geograph.or.uk

“You cannot override market forces …. We cannot secure your future for you, you must secure your own future.”
John Wotton, Law Society President, 17th October 2011

With these words, John Wotton made it very clear that the profession needs to start taking responsibility for itself in the business arena. Speaking at the Sussex Law Society Annual Conference, he said that many solicitors are very worried about the fundamental changes they are now facing and that he doesn’t have a crystal ball. “It would be wrong to say that everything will be fine”. He confirmed that times could be very difficult for small high street firms who will particularly be in the eye of the oncoming storm. ABS is a driver of change and it isn’t the only one. Reduced availability of legal aid and the changed expectations of both clients and younger lawyers will also drive that change.

It was clear from his address that the Law Society is has a better understanding than many of its members of the challenges firms are facing now. Indeed it seemed at times as if both he and his co-speaker, the Chair of the SRA, were trying very hard to wake the legal profession up. There is a real fear amongst observers of the profession that it will sleep walk its way into a very avoidable disaster.

John Wotton advised delegates that a big issue is now risk management, which is why outcome focused regulation has been introduced by the SRA. Whilst he didn’t put it in these terms, it is clear that solicitors must understand the fact that risk management starts with having a plan for the survival of their firm in face of the oncoming commercial storm.

The President reminded delegates that risk management is important to clients – 47% indicated exactly that in the latest survey figures available to the Law Society. And he invited lawyers to consider this in positive terms. He pointed out that lawyers have an enviable reputation for the level of their training. They offer great guarantees of service through their regulatory structures, their Code of Ethics, indemnity insurance, the SRA and the ombudsman. These are all huge selling points in the new marketplace that is opening up.

The clear message is that ABS is the game changer. It offers much wider business opportunities than law firms have had before and it may well dilute our current perception of what a law firm actually is. Those opportunities though are the point for a well managed and entrepreneurial firm. Investment, partners from other professions and an opportunity to create a more commercially adept business is there for the taking now. He made a particular point of highlighting how the use of a good, well informed website will provide many ways of breaking down a client’s reluctance to instruct a solicitors firm.

The other clear message is that firms need to act now, a message echoed very strongly by the individual presidents of the local law societies who had come together for this conference. There is a gap opening up between the firms who have grasped the opportunity, as well as the challenge, in front of them, and those who are building their own self-fulfilling doom prophecies by doing nothing.

photo courtesy of Mike Quinn’s Profile on geograph.or.uk

We haven’t, which might strike you as odd.

Exhibitions are hugely expensive to exhibit at and lawyers are getting very good at using Google as their 24/7 online exhibition. The beauty of web browsing is that you get to find information comfortably, without the risk of being locked into a full sales conversation until you want to be.

And unlike all of our competitors, our website carries all of our software costs (www.anyadesigns.co.uk/pricing). The price shouldn’t be a well-kept secret you somehow earn by being prepared to talk to us. It should be upfront on demand.

And then, when you have got the basic information, you can call us or email us at a time that suits you from the comfort of your own chair.

So there it is in a nutshell: exhibitions: too expensive. Website: much cheaper and much more convenient for the person that matters, you.

Every quarter we release a new version of iLaw. This is mainly because the Legal Services Commission has instituted a raft of changes but also because we have added some good stuff that we think you will like. These service packs come out on a disc in time honoured fashion and your IT bod – or the person in the office nominated to be them for a day – gets to run around updating all the PC’s in your office.

Then 3 days later we will get an email from the LSC saying something along the lines of ‘Sorry guys but we had to change something .. again’ and we are left thinking about *another* shipment of discs, not knowing whether you really want to see them for another 3 months.

So we have changed iLaw to make it easier for you to stay up to date with interim service releases without having to collect more pink discs than you ever wanted to own. This is how you do it:

Go to the Housekeeping menu on the menu bar and select Check for software updates.

This will check your current version of iLaw. If you are up to date, it will tell you. If you are not, it will take you to our website and download the latest version. Really simple.