Fresco law

New marketing collectives seem to be springing up all over the place at the moment, with QualitySolicitors' link up with WHSmith being just one example. So I wasn't surprised to find an email with details of a new initiative drop into my inbox the other day. It is about to launch imminently and takes a radically different approach to the brand challenge posed by the Legal Services Act. It's called ShedLaw.

It is promoted by a company called Solicitors Holistic Innovations Tactics & Endeavours Ltd, and is aimed at smaller law firms that don't want to rebrand themselves or cannot afford to pay the joining fee/percentage of turnover required by some marketing collectives. It is based on the premise that the crucial point in the process of acquiring new clients is to get to them first before others do, which is the vital purpose of the QualitySolicitors' newsagent tie-in.

In this new initiative, the law firm will go to where the clients are; not in shopping malls or via telephone call centres, but where consumers really are: in the street, car parks, lay-bys, playing fields, even on their allotments. Nowhere will be off limits. Shed law will have immediacy, visibility and accessibility. How can it achieve all this? The key to all this is via cost-effective, lightweight shelters or structures: the shed.

In the minds of the promoters, the shed is quintessentially English, as natural as warm beer, cricket on the green or steam engines. Throughout our great island story the shed has played a fundamental, if discreet, role. Great men have written great works of literature in their sheds. George Orwell wrote Down and Out in Paris and London in a shed, George Bernard Shaw penned Pygmalion in a prefab at Shaw's Corner and Phillip Pullman bashes away at the bottom of his garden.

Now ShedLaw will take that creative process right into the heart of British life. By becoming the premier brand for the provision of legal services, it will not only give the consumer access to justice but give the humble shed the recognition that it deserves.

Getting started

The membership fees are said to be minimal and the only requirement for entry is that each member has to build its own shed on the basis that if you can't build your own shed you should not be practising law. Members will be able to acquire their own sheds via the company, which hopes that it can use its purchasing power in the market to drive hard bargains on wholesale rather than on expensive marketing campaigns. Failing that, members can all pool their Tesco clubcard points together and buy their sheds via Tesco direct. If you wait for a bank holiday or a royal wedding, Tesco might even offer to double your clubcard points for you.

The shed will need to be big enough to accommodate at least two deckchair-sized seats, so that client consultations can be held in comfort. The company will offer basic services in electrics, to hook up to the mains (lampposts are a good source of mains electricity, but care is needed) for power, water supply and sanitation '“ it having a background in the latter area.

Members will be free to practise where they like, subject to any applicable planning or other laws and it being safe to do so, as well as in whatever area of law they choose. It is anticipated that heavy-duty litigation or large transactional work will not be well suited to the model, but there is no absolute bar. Neither should this be seen as a parochial business model: the company has plans to develop an expertise in crofting law, being an ideal cross-border area of practice.

In preliminary trials, concerns were expressed among the public of the security of data and client information. Clearly this is a very important issue but one that can be addressed by ensuring: (a) that a decent padlock is used when the shed is unattended; and (b) that the shed is not left anywhere where it might be likely to be removed by police or security guards on a flatbed truck. To avoid these problems future plans include developing a spin-off brand '“ Caravan Law '“ to provide ultimate mobility in the provision of legal services.

Additional services can be offered once ABS comes into force on 6 October, such as refreshments and sales of ancillary items. The company sees this as a key area of growth for the brand '“ after all, what can be better than a cup of tea while discussing complex legal problems? Perhaps with a slice of cake. Or a Rich Tea biscuit.

The benefits are obvious: low overheads, flexibility and mobility. In the right location, with heavy footfall or at the right time of day or night, there could be a good passing trade. One potential scenario the promoters suggest is that a member could locate their shed in a town centre, perhaps near to a pubs and offer burgers (or kebabs) with initial free legal advice on the side, but with a loyalty card scheme as well so that on the client buying their tenth doner they would be entitled to one hour's free legal advice.

The company welcomes applications for membership from any law firm, big or small. It is open to everyone, although the promoters envisage that the scheme might have more appeal to men. Member firms will be regulated by the SRA '“ the Shed Regulation Authority.

You can follow them on Twitter: @Shed_Law. In true shed fashion the website www.shedlaw.com is currently under construction.

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