While visiting lawyers all over the country, Law Society president Fiona Woolf has listened to a host of concerns, ranging from staff retention and flexible working to legal aid and anti-money laundering rules

I have been out on the road visiting law firms and meeting with members of the profession across the country for the last month. In the last two weeks alone, I have been to 13 firms and had breakfast or dinner with another ten. I have also met three local law societies and representatives from the Manchester regional branches of the Association of Women Solicitors, the Trainee Solicitors Group, the Young Solicitors Group and the Black Solicitors Network.


For me, this is very much a listening exercise. I want to find out what solicitors want the Law Society to do for them.


It seems that for many firms the issues that are causing the most concern are staff retention, flexible working hours, and general quality of life. There is clearly a debate on these issues to be had among employers and employees, young and old, in-house and private practice, and involving not only lawyers but also other providers of professional services. There may be no easy answers, but it is possible that there is a mismatch of expectations among employers and employees, and that the Law Society has a role in establishing a new consensus.


I have had a great deal of feedback on this issue whenever it has been raised and this I am feeding into a new initiative on best practice across both the legal, accounting, and financial services sectors.


At a meeting the other day, the first question from one of the largest firms was: ‘What are you doing about legal aid? We are worried that there will be a huge increase in the demand for law centre advice.’ Many solicitors in the largest firms give advice in law centres on a pro bono basis, and they are naturally concerned that the demand will soar to levels that they are unable to meet – despite their commitment – and in areas in which they lack the necessary expertise.


I am proud to say we are doing plenty about legal aid. Last week we launched the ‘What Price Justice?’ campaign, which highlights the threat to access justice from the government’s legal aid proposals. We are extremely concerned that many law firms may be forced to stop legal aid work altogether if the reforms go ahead on current plans. The sad fact is the government has already squeezed much of the life out of the civil legal aid system through years of under-investment.


The people who need legal aid the most are at risk of being forced out of their homes or may be unable to seek protection from, for example, domestic violence because there simply are not enough legal aid lawyers to give them the professional advice they so desperately need. That is why organisations including MIND, Shelter, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and the Refugee Council have joined the Law Society in a national campaign.


As part of this, Law Society Representation chief executive, Desmond Hudson, and Vice-President Andrew Holroyd will be touring the country to speak to solicitors who are concerned that the legal aid deserts will continue to expand across England and Wales.


For example, it has been estimated by the Association of Lawyers for Children that four out of five towns would have no legal aid advisers working on children law cases as a result of the government’s proposals, and a new report by the Social Welfare Law Coalition reveals there are already acute shortages of family, housing, debt, immigration, and mental health legal aid advisers all over the country.


It has also been estimated that some legal aid lawyers will see their earnings cut by up to 50%. This is untenable and the Law Society is campaigning with our partners to ensure that rates in the future secure a viable legal aid sector.


We hope that our media campaign will drive home our message that the legal aid system is at grave risk without adequate investment. Without sufficient numbers of legal aid lawyers, there will be thousands left with no recourse to access their legal rights. The government cannot expect the profession’s splendid pro bono efforts to fill the vacuum. The entire profession must unite to defend access to justice.


Legal aid is at the forefront of our minds at the moment, along with the Legal Services Bill, which we expect will be published soon after the Queen’s Speech, but I am no less focused on the other issues that practitioners have raised through the Law Society October survey, ‘Supporting Solicitors’.


Solicitors told us that the Society should focus on ensuring that anti-money laundering measures are proportionate, on working to secure the regulation of will writers, and on dealing with the tricky issue of the increasing unreliability of lenders’ redemption statements, and the knock-on effect this has on the undertakings solicitors give as part of the conveyancing process.


The Law Society is working hard to ensure that the government and the profession’s regulators do not continue to gold-plate the Europe-wide measures to combat money laundering. We are also lobbying forcefully to level the playing field for solicitors with unregulated providers of legal services, including will writers, across the board, and we have begun work on redemption statements and undertakings. I will report back on progress through this column and through Professional Update, the Law Society’s weekly e-newsletter (sign up via the Society’s website at www.lawsociety.org.uk).


Fiona Woolf is the Law Society President