As the Law Society seeks to review its professional non-regulatory activities, Edward Nally calls on solicitors to contribute their ideas in a bid to develop the collective representation the profession needs


‘What has the Law Society ever done for me?’ I have become used to fielding this question, often posed by members of the profession with a degree of scepticism. I’m in no doubt that the question is a fair one and the answers to it are both reasonable and compelling. But that sort of exchange misses the point. The issues go far deeper.


Earlier this year the Law Society launched a review of its professional non-regulatory activities to ensure that, as a modern professional body, it is an effective champion of solicitors in an increasingly competitive world. The review presents solicitors with an opportunity to take a step back and think about what it is they really want from membership of the Law Society. We need to readjust our focus and to look afresh at what the Society is doing now, what it can improve on and how it can best support the profession and represent its members in the future.


I would like to start with a rather blunt question. If the Law Society did not exist, would the profession still want some means of addressing its needs, of regulating its practice and of representing its interests? I believe it would. As a practising solicitor myself, I want to understand my place in society and my responsibilities to my clients and to my fellow professionals. I want the profession to be regulated effectively to ensure that my colleagues and I are all practising to the same high standards. But it goes further than that.


I suspect I am typical of many solicitors in that I feel uneasy from time to time when the government proposes legislation that challenges the rule of law. I also have a sense of social responsibility. I want to see the legal profession defending the rights of citizens. Human rights abuses would be one broad theme, excesses of zeal on the part of government might be another. I believe that as solicitors we have much to offer the law-making process and through our professional body we can make a valid contribution to law reform.


And I want to share with others my concerns about the profession, my bright ideas about its future and the ways in which different types of practice might evolve. Keeping up with the developments in law and in practice is vital. The law I practise today has changed so dramatically from that which existed even five years ago. Against this background it is critical that like-minded practitioners get together to share ideas and views. Even though we are such a diverse profession, I believe that the differences between us are greatly overplayed. There are in fact many common strands that hold us together.


But my philosophical views are only personal opinion. What we need now is collective action. The Law Society’s review of professional non-regulatory activities provides us with a tremendous opportunity to engage as a profession and to consider together what form of representation we need, assuming that a blank piece of paper is available to us. The process of transforming the Law Society into a professional body with a new structure and a different character is obviously not a straightforward proposition, but in my view it must be done. I think it is a far more attractive proposition than some kind of ill-advised ‘sack and burn’ dismantling of the institution itself.


My preferred option is to develop a Law Society with a representational function that chimes more readily with different sectors of the profession. If we can achieve this, then the migration towards separate regulatory and representational bodies in due course, if that is what is required, will be much smoother and less fragmented.


The Law Society has already undertaken extensive work as part of the review process. We are benchmarking a number of other legal and non-legal professional organisations, both in the UK and abroad, to enable us to establish a model of representation that reflects best practice. We are also undertaking widespread research to solicit the views and opinions of the profession through targeted surveys and focused discussion groups. It is our aim that a report will be presented to the Law Society Council at the end of this year and, at the beginning of 2005, a formal consultation with the profession will commence.


I hope that as many solicitors as possible will engage in the process and not assume that the responsibility lies with others. When I say your views are critical, I mean it. Without your input we will not be able to develop a professional organisation that truly represents the needs and interests of its members. Let’s not forget that we make the Law Society what it is and we have a responsibility, as much as an entitlement, to make it work for us as we wish.


Edward Nally is the Law Society President