Ehsan Kabir Solicitor : Legal Profession Plans and Strategies

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Legal Profession Plans and Strategies

• Ehsan Kabir Solicitor

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Lesson Objectives

• I will be able to evaluate the legal profession
• I will be able to evaluate legal funding
• I will be able to evaluate sources of advice

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• The essential principles relating to the
  provision of legal services has not changed since
  they were stated in the 1979 Royal Commission on
  Legal Services as
• There should be equal access to the courts
• Equal access demands adequate legal services
• Financial assistance out of public funds should
  be available for every individual who, without
  it, would suffer an undue financial burden in
  properly pursuing or defending his rights
• The standard of legal services should be the same
  irrespective of whether or not provided at the
  public expense
• A free choice of lawyer should be available to
  each individual

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• These principles need to take into account the
  fact that there is an unmet need for legal
  services, arising from a number of factors
• There has been the creation of new categories of
  legal rights without the funding to enforce them
  this relates in particular to social welfare law
• People do not realise their problem is a legal
  one that can be dealt with by a lawyer, e.g. debt
• There is still poverty in the UK, and poorer
  people often have a fear of fees and bills
• There is general ignorance of funding methods
  available, despite the increase in advertising by
  the legal profession and other organisations such
  as accident help lines
• There may be fear of authority and unfamiliarity
  with the surroundings lawyers are equated by
  many with the courts and the police and generally
  give a feeling of unease to many
• Unfamiliar language is used, that is, legal
  jargon and technical terms
• Lawyers may be inaccessible this includes office
  hours usually matching times when people are at
  work
• Lawyers in the area may be unavailable (high
  population in one area and not in another)
• Solicitors training emphasises on the business
  side of being a solicitor, so the emphasis is on
  the most lucrative business, not the most
  unprofitable
• These points need to borne in mind when looking
  at the next points.

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Legal Profession

• Lawyers work
• More solicitors means more work
• High competition, not just from solicitors, but
  from accountants, conveyancers, will makers,
  banks etc
• Some work more profitable than others (commercial
  contracts, probate, wills and trusts are
  considered profitable, whereas welfare can
  sometimes be loss-making)
• Solicitors dont follow cab-rank rule so can
  cherry pick work leaving some people without
  access to a lawyer
• This situation is resolved by law centres

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• Pay
• Public perception is that lawyers are well paid
• There are million pound earners but average wage
  of solicitors in 2005 was 48,000 in North East
  England it was 22,000 LESS THAN A TEACHER!
• Barristers are self-employed which can mean no
  earnings
• Legal aid rates are very low but Balbir Singh was
  paid over 1.1m from legal aid
• A proposed fee structure for legal aid cases was
  neglected after it was decided it breached EU
  rules in 2007
• This leads to uncertainty
• High cost of lawyers is seen as a deterrent to
  using the law

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• Getting Started
• High cost to train as a lawyer followed by the
  potential need to take out further loans when
  working
• Two thirds of BVC students dont get a pupillage
• No guarantee of work after qualification

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• Control of the legal profession
• Barristers used to be immune from liability for
  poor work done in court and limited protection
  out of court immunity removed by Hall v Simons
  (2000)
• Moy v Pettman Smith (2005) took a more lenient
  view of this
• Barristers have always been subject to discipline
  for their actions by the Bar Council
• The Council has now removed itself from direct
  involvement in complaints apart from giving
  general advice to its member barristers
• It has set up the Bar Standards Board as the
  independent regulatory body of the Council
• Responsible for regulating barristers
  independently and in the public interest
• Professional negligence is outside the Bar
  Standards Board remit, although there are some
  areas of overlap

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• When complaining about a solicitor, the first
  step is to approach the solicitor themselves
• Legal Complaints Service is the next step
  independent complaints handling body, part of the
  Law Society but operating independently
• Services are confidential and free to use
• Usually tries to resolves problems through
  conciliation
• Solicitors are not immune from claims of
  professional negligence may have some
  protection from courtroom work Moy v Pettman
  Smith (2005)
• Where solicitors have not acted in the manner
  required, the Solicitors Regulation Authority may
  become involved part of the law society but
  operating independently
• Its purpose is to protect the public by ensuring
  that solicitors meet high standards and by acting
  when risks are identified standards are set out
  by the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007

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• ILEX can take disciplinary action against members
  who breach the Code of Conduct or its rules, or
  whose behaviour is unfitting
• ILEX has the power to exclude a person from
  membership, or can issue a reprimand or fine
• First point of contact for poor work by an ILEX
  member is the firm or organisation he works for
• Can be a daunting task to take action against a
  member of the legal profession
• There is no immunity, but it is sometimes
  suggested that the standard required for the
  legal profession is on occasions lower than other
  professions

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Legal Funding

• Cost
• Legal aid in England and Wales currently costs
  more than 2 billion a year
• Nearly 50 more than what was spent on culture,
  media and sport
• Successive Governments have been trying to reduce
  legal aid spending have only managed to contain
  it by reducing availability

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• Availability
• Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs Third
  Report in 2007 noted that legal aid suppliers had
  declined in numbers significantly
• Legal aid contracts declined by a third between
  2000 and 2007
• Represents a huge decline in access to justice
  for people with family problems as firms gave
  up legal aid work because of the poor rates of
  pay, bureaucracy and costs of administering legal
  aid contracts and recruiting suitably qualified
  staff
• The Mental Health Lawyers Association stated to
  the Select Committee that the number of
  specialists in their association has fallen by
  25 since 2000, whilst the number of unwell
  clients had risen by over 10 in the same period
• These examples show that there remains an unmet
  need for legal services and the principles
  relating to access to justice are not being
  achieved

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• Conditional fee agreements
• A mix of legal and financial matters that are not
  always clearly understood by the non-lawyer
• Customers sometimes induced inappropriately
• CAB evidence is that the withdrawal of legal aid
  and the advent of conditional fee agreements has
  lead to a system that involves high costs and
  delays, and in some cases, consumers that are
  subjected to high-pressure sales tactics by
  unqualified people
• Inappropriate marketing and sales tactics means
  that some solicitors are known as ambulance
  chasers

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• Risk of these agreements are not always clearly
  explained
• Hidden costs that arent no win no fee
• The alternative of representing oneself in court
  is seen by many as impossible, so valid claims go
  unmade through fear and inertia
• So-called compensation culture is focussing more
  people on the hope of money for nothing, rather
  than getting back to work after injury
• Victims are not being helped to resume a normal
  life in both society and the workplace
• Create incentives for some solicitors to
  cherry-pick high value cases with a high chance
  of success
• Cab-rank principle would be better
• No effective regulation of conditional fee
  arrangements to provide protection on quality of
  advice and costs
• Activities of claims management companies seem to
  fall outside the system of regulation, but are
  increasingly the starting point in the claims
  process

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• Other sources of advice and funding
• The cost to the individual of funding legal
  advice varies
• Much available advice is apparently free but
  what about the subscription or insurance premium
• The cost is however, minimum the reason why so
  many people have some form of legal expenses
  insurance attached to their car or house
  insurance
• The disadvantage of this is that there is often a
  restricted choice of legal provider, and some
  policies limit the maximum amount payable

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• Thanks