The south is booming, but the rural areas thirst for regeneration, says Catherine Baksi

The entrepreneurial spirit of Essex, its proximity to London and the government’s plans for urban regeneration make for a buoyant legal market in the region’s commercial sector – but other more high street specialties are suffering, lawyers report.


Essex is a county of two halves – the urban Greater London conurbation and Thames Gateway, and the more rural part above Chelmsford, up to Stratford and the Suffolk borders.


Brian Hughes, Law Society Council member for mid Essex, says that in the Thames corridor from East Ham in London to Southend, solicitors are benefiting from the growth of light industry and an overspill from the capital, with businesses relocating to areas with less expensive offices.


‘There is lots of commercial work being done and residential conveyancing is buoyant in the south,’ he says. But ‘the rural half is a slightly different kettle of fish – there’s not so much industry or housing development, although some areas are expanding and there are plans for regeneration.


‘Gradually the area is being covered in concrete, and local solicitors can’t grumble about this.’


Mr Hughes notes legal aid work is diminishing, and there are advice deserts in crime, social housing and childcare. He predicts the introduction of home information packs could have a severe impact on residential conveyancers because of the high number of commercial estate agents in Essex.


Chelmsford and Colchester are the major commercial and legal centres in Essex. Chelmsford commercial firm Wollastons was set up in 1985 with one assistant and two administrative staff and has grown to 15 partners and 43 fee-earners. Single office Brentwood firm Wortley Byers and 11-partner three-office firm Palmers have also seen the commercial sides of their practice flourish.


Philip George, managing partner at Birkett Long, a 19-partner firm with three offices in Colchester and Chelmsford, says: ‘It’s an exciting time to be practicing in Essex – there is so much going on in terms of regeneration, which is bringing other opportunities with it.’


‘The 2012 Olympics also brings opportunities, which we are well-placed to take advantage of,’ he adds.


Essex solicitors have a better quality of life than their London colleagues, but are close enough to the capital to attract London clients who benefit from the much lower fee rates, says Mr George.


But the call of the City does cause recruitment problems, Graeme Atkinson, managing partner at Chelmsford firm Wortley Redmayne Kershaw, adds. Guy Longhurst, partner at Ellisons, in Colchester, Frinton-on-Sea and Harwich, agrees that it is particularly hard to attract younger lawyers. But he continues: ‘Lawyers are increasingly moving here from London, because career progression in City firms is harder. They’ve done the London thing and want a better quality of life.’