Speaking at The Legal Services Act – Taking the law into your own hands conference, Professor Stephen Mayson said instead of embracing complaints as feedback, the industry has always resisted and dealt with criticism badly.
“As soon as people don’t have to use lawyers, they probably won’t as soon as firms without qualified lawyers can offer legal services. The whole supply chain of legal services is about to change,” said Mayson, the director of the Legal Services Institute.
Solicitors still cling to a ‘broken business model’, said Mayson, where income is redistributed among partners instead of re-invested back into the business.
Other problems included inefficiency, with solicitors convinced personal service is key so charge clients top rates to see the partner when a less expensive employee would do. Under-investment has also held back technological advances, he said, with Limited Liability Partnership structures restraining, instead of driving businesses on to embrace change.
“A lot of online services will emerge as a result of the Alternative Business Structure (ABS) brought in by the Act because legal services can be commoditised,” he said.
“The opportunities are there. If firms choose not to take them it’s their choice. They can either compete on the new terms, or die a slow death on the old ones.”
