There is an awful lot of talk just now about threats to solicitors’ business, particularly in commoditised areas like personal injury.And lawyers are quite right to be paying close attention to any indications about what big brands like the Co-op might be planning when the Legal Services Act comes fully into force in October 2011.

They are also right to be concerned about what at some firms is an over-reliance on claims management companies to feed them work, with some now forking out up to a grand a pop for cases provided.

But what is at the root of solicitors’ fears is, I suspect, a sense of lack of control over the changes that are taking place.

That is why it is so good to see a group of solicitors taking a very proactive stance to address the challenges facing firms.

As the Gazette reported this week, the group, which was set up and is run by law firms, has launched a new claims management type business to gather personal injury claims. It says it is aiming for a referral fee charge of around £220, which would sit a lot easier with firms’ tight profit margins.

But it’s not just the lower referral fee that is innovative about the scheme. The founders suggest that they can sidestep competition from the big brands by targeting a whole new market for personal injury claims – the middle and upper classes. And thinking about it, this does make sense. Surely posh people trip up and have car accidents just as much as the lower classes?

QualitySolicitors’ chief exec Craig Holt reckons these higher socio-economic groups have been put off seeking compensation by insurance propaganda and the sheer tackiness of the usual claims management adverts. And after all, it is true that compensation has become something of a dirty word these days.

Whether some higher quality advertising placed in the Coronation Street ad break (as the Gazette understands is the intention) rather than the usual low-grade ads aired during daytime TV makeover programmes will be enough to change the whole perception of compensation, remains to be seen. But what is heartening is that solicitors are beginning to tackle the problems they face head on. And at last, they are leading the charge.