Putting the focus on clients

A recent survey of small businesses found that only 12.5 per cent of those businesses sought help from solicitors in connection with legal problems, and 45 per cent of the respondents considered that lawyers do not provide a cost-effective means of resolving legal issues. The same survey estimated that the possible losses suffered by small businesses as a result of legal problems could reach £100bn ?a year.

Why the disconnect? After all, business owners know that we solicitors exist, they clearly need more legal assistance than they currently use, and we are only too happy to provide it.

Or are we? There is a danger that talking about legal costs ?is hiding a problem that is in some ways more fundamental. This is that the modern law firm focuses on commoditisation of its offering, on developing a brand, and on minimising risk, ?all in the interests of maximising its own profit. The typical business model is to have standardised documents delivered by junior and (relatively) cheap lawyers, with the experienced solicitors concentrating on a supervisory role.

This amounts to sale of product, not provision of a genuine service. It is a model that no doubt works operates well for larger transactional work. But what is clear from many conversations that I have had with the owners and managers of smaller businesses is that it is unsuited to their specific needs.

Typically, such people do not have an in-house legal department to call on. They are, usually, clear about the commercial objective they wish to achieve. What they want is help in achieving that objective with the least possible amount ?of paper, the least possible fuss, and - of course - the least possible cost.

What they do not want to be paying for is a standard document drafted for the most complicated conceivable version of their simple commercial situation. Nor do they want to be told by a brilliant academic with no commercial experience that the pages and pages of verbiage are all necessary, when they know that there is absolutely no likelihood of many of the circumstances actually occurring.

Above all, as people for whom the particular situation is out of the ordinary, what they want is real practical advice from someone who has regular experience of that situation and ones similar to it. And they are prepared to pay a reasonable fee for such advice.

Of course there are problems with this approach. A law practice is unlikely to be able to make as much money giving bespoke advice to small businesses as it is by churning out commoditised paper for listed companies. It is also going to be more difficult to attract outside investment, and young lawyers keen to make large quantities of money in a short time.

But there is definitely a market out there for anyone who wants to make a difference to the business lives of real people. All one has to do is to focus on Them rather than Us. SJ

Alan Williams is managing partner at Buss Murton