History in the making

Enough is enough. Relentless cuts to legal aid, the sacrifice of personal injury work on the insurance industry's altar, and lenders taking control of the conveyancing market are just some causes of anger for solicitors as we move into 2014.

Much as the government is whipping up its forthcoming Global Law Summit as a celebration of Britain's legal services heritage and the value of legal services to the economy, the reality for small and medium-size law firms is that things are still not looking great.

This, really, was what solicitors told Law Society chief executive Des Hudson when they passed a motion of no confidence at a special general meeting just before Christmas.

Enough of him, perhaps, and disappointment that Chancery Lane engaged as it did with the government over criminal legal aid. Mostly, though, the vote was a call for support at a time when so many solicitors feel under attack from so many sides.

In relation to legal aid, the Law Society has defended its stance, saying it delivered a less bad outcome than if it had refused to negotiate.

Nevertheless, for criminal lawyers, the result looked like a sell-out to Chris Grayling; and for the profession as a whole, the no-confidence motion - even though it was adopted by a small majority only - was the expression of this deeper anxiety.

True, Chancery Lane ran a moderately successful campaign against legal aid cuts inasmuch as it got coverage in the media beyond the legal press. But the impetus came from the legal aid community, and without the support of some senior judges, it is not clear that it would have received as much attention.

The final result however, is that the government's reforms are still being pushed through with barely any concessions.

Six years after the Law Society was dismantled by the Legal Services Act, the profession is still looking for a strong, campaigning organisation that can stand up '¨for solicitors.

Deprived of its regulatory function, Chancery Lane is still going through an identity crisis. The vote that took place on 17 December could be a defining moment with '¨the potential to change the course of history for the profession.

Whatever Hudson and his team now decide to do, criminal legal aid solicitor James Parry, who called for the vote, has set in motion a change of dynamics.

For years before the Legal Services Act, Chancery Lane was seen as distant. Now is '¨the time for its leaders to engage with the wider constituency.

Inevitably there will be suspicion at the Legal Services Board's suggestion to set up a single legal regulator and 'royal colleges' for law professionals. Seeing what the Royal College of Nursing or the British Medical Association are able to achieve, however, there would be merit in considering the idea more seriously.

This could empower Chancery Lane to become a true professional organisation and allow it to shape the future of legal services more credibly, for the benefit of all solicitors. SJ

Copyright & permissions