Specialism is the order of the day

Recent storms and floods have concentrated attention on the South West, and as senior partner of my firm and as president of Devon and Somerset Law Society, the most frequent question I have faced is whether I or anybody I know has been affected by the damage and disruption. It is only when discussing things further that I realise people do actually know where Teignmouth, where I live and work, actually is, although perhaps that is only because they have heard in the news that it is the nearest town to Dawlish, where the railway line collapsed into the sea.

Most practitioners in the Devon and Somerset area, which is primarily rural and consists of small firms, could be forgiven for thinking that the rest of the country is of the view that there is no life south of Bristol. That is simply not true. Take my particular speciality of commercial property. Many practitioners with whom I deal regularly in South Devon are, like me, very busy, not just with local clients, but with clients outside our immediate area. Some medium and large firms based in Exeter and Taunton have a number of very well qualified and able practitioners who specialise in somewhat complex matters. My particular workload consists of some such matters, although primarily small to medium size businesses, whose needs in this era of bureaucracy require service levels of the highest level from their lawyer. Even in a small firm such as mine, specialism is the order of the day and I am ably supported by other commercial property practitioners as well as those who deal with employment.

Most small businesses have to wrestle with all kinds of red tape, whether that be from legislation dealing with discrimination, money laundering, health and safety and the like, or somewhat more longstanding problems, such as fire and asbestos risk assessments. Teignmouth itself relies heavily on the tourist industry and it is important that small businesses control their costs.

The task for lawyers here is to ensure that we have the resources in place to meet the everyday needs of businesses, because there certainly is life and indeed a thriving business community at this end of the country. SJ