At your service

It bears repeating that, despite the rumours about a possible delay, the Legal Services Act 2007 remains set to go live on 6 October. For the first time, non-lawyer investment in a solicitors' practice will be permitted. In the legal press, as well as in many partners' meetings across the country, a great debate is raging. Is this the end of our cosy world of professionalism?

It seems that solicitors have split into three camps over the issue. The first group are devoting time and effort to wringing their hands, prophesying doom and the hijack of a well-respected profession by faceless corporate brands. The second group are preparing themselves for change and the new landscape for legal services. I have no hard evidence but I suspect that a third group has the largest membership '“ they are not addressing the issue at all and have no plans other than to carry on the way they always have done.

Some have predicted a big bang for legal services from October this year, with the bigger law firms taking external investment and insurance and banking brands moving into the legal market with their own legal offering marketed direct to the public. In reality, there seems to be little enthusiasm for either. Apart from one or two announcements about immediate action, it looks like it will take time for the post-LSA era to develop.

Big non-legal brands have no pool of existing legal know-how other than through the law firms they have always instructed. For the big law firms there are problems with retaining talent outside the traditional law firm structure. With external investment, new shareholders will be looking for a return.

Does this still leave room for the talented young solicitor to progress to partnership, or, indeed, ownership? The question also arises as to what a law firm would do with the money raised. Anyone thinking it would simply be a payday for sitting partners must be mistaken. Why would any investor want to take a step like that?

Buying time

The real challenge to the profession is the client service giants. Retailers, banks, insurance companies and many other big brands have devoted many years and a great deal of money to getting their service levels consistent and right. There is no doubt that most of the legal profession falls far behind systems and service levels that non-legal organisations can offer.

My own firm's strategy is founded on a recognition that service levels are every bit as important as the quality of the legal advice given. Let's face it, the complaints we receive are not about misinterpretations of some arcane clause in the Consumer Credit Act. They are about us not answering the phone.

The frustrations that consumers experience in their dealings with solicitors revolve around a perception that we are not 'user friendly'. We need to correct this failing '“ and fast.

I am not talking about the world of high-level bespoke service such as is provided by the Magic Circle firms. The opportunity lies in the legal services that consumers and SMEs need to use to run their lives and businesses. If we are able to demonstrate to banks, insurers and retailers that these legal activities can be handled to a high service level and with quality delivered at the right standard of legal knowledge for the job in hand, there is indeed an opportunity.

Rather than become too hung up on the technical pros and cons of an ABS or be rushing into a search for external investment, focus should, as ever, be on what our clients want. In the case of a big brand this is not just a matter of what they want (added value, brand protection, new revenue steams) but what their own customers want. They want easy access to legal advice at the right price and delivered in a way and at a time that suits them and not necessarily that suits us.

The big brands will have a growing interest in providing legal services to their customers and the wider public. For once, it should be our profession that takes the initiative in taking these opportunities to them rather than reacting to moves that they make. When this happens they will need to work with lawyers and even if their plans involve wholesale set up of an in-house provision there will be a need for some of this work to be outsourced in terms of conflict and hard cases.

At the other extreme, a brand may simply wish to 'white label' the service outsourced to law firms. This, in time, is where a law firm and non-legal institution may find a place for an ABS where the legal service will be hived off by both partners in a provision jointly owned by them.

Some years ago deregulation in relation to referral fees for personal injury claims led to the growth of a whole new claims management industry. Perhaps this was a sad reflection of the inability of our profession to grasp an opportunity. It is to be hoped that we do not make the same mistake again.