I hope that you are suitably rested after the Christmas break, and may I wish you all a happy new year. I am now halfway through my year as president of the Law Society. It is at this point that my fellow office holders and I take stock of our progress to date and how we can take forward the leadership of the Law Society, ensuring we support the whole of the profession in facing the current challenges.

A few years ago, this would have entailed my predecessors determining our common response to the reforms of the legal services sector following the Clementi Review and the Legal Services Act. Now, of course, it’s the economy that dominates all our thinking. The Law Society is making every effort to support the profession during this economic downturn, including convening a series of meetings before Christmas with the major high-street banks. The aim of these meetings was to press home the unique concerns of the profession, for example securing assurances over the security of deposits.

These meetings will continue into the new year, and form part of a wider programme of work to provide practical support to the profession, including practice notes advice on dealing with tax payments difficulties, managing redundancy and seeking jobs. Further information is available at www.lawsociety.org.uk/survivingthedownturn.

While it is impossible to predict the future with any certainty, it is clear that the recession will be deeper and longer than many anticipated, and the next 12 months will be challenging for us all. While no membership organisation can change the economic circumstances in which we all find ourselves, I firmly believe that taking action now to ensure that the legal sector provides a high-quality service that is competitive both domestically and internationally will help ensure that the profession remains in a strong position in the future.

OFT home-buying reviewI was very pleased to see the recent announcement by the government’s consumer watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading, that it will be carrying out a review of the home-buying process.

Over the last few years, I have attended numerous forums, seminars and stakeholder groups where many ideas have been put forward to improve the home-buying process for the consumer. However, it seems to me that many of these ideas do not have any relevance or benefit to the consumer. Instead, they are more designed to maximise profits for whoever wishes to promote their particular service.

Therefore, it is my hope that the OFT’s new study will be comprehensive and independently driven, to ensure that we finally move the debate on the home-buying market away from vested interests, and towards producing recommendations for reform that put the consumer at their heart.

One particular issue that I believe is critical for the profession is the payment of referral fees for conveyancing. I have always been opposed to the introduction of conveyancing referral fees, and along with many members of the profession I believe that the changes recommended by the OFT in 2003 were unnecessary.

Sometimes there is a lack of transparency as far as the public are concerned, and I wonder how many consumers are aware that their conveyancing fees may have been increased because of commission paid to estate agents. It is my sincere hope that on this occasion the OFT engages with the profession to ensure that this market study uncovers these inequities. Over the next few months, I will ensure that the Law Society engages with the OFT to ensure that its review will be fully aware of the profession’s concerns, and that it helps take forward the reform of the home-buying market to finally benefit the consumer.

Entity-based regulationThe Law Society has made clear to the Solicitors Regulation Authority its concerns regarding its recent proposals for entity-based regulation as contained in its consultation on fee-raising policy for this year. We believe that this is likely to adversely damage small firms and sole practitioners. The SRA has indicated it would consider these concerns seriously, and we will work with the SRA over the next few months to press for a more suitable system of regulation.

At its December meeting, the Law Society Council made its objections clear to the additional compensation fund and other payments – currently around £300 a year – being levied on all firms, irrespective of whether or not they handle clients’ funds or the associated level of risk.

We believe that compensation fund payments need to be established by way of a proportionate and risk-based approach, and should not be made by members of the profession whose work poses no risk to the fund. I will ensure that the Law Society continues to represent the best interests of the profession regarding its regulation by the SRA and other bodies, and I will let you know how this issue develops.

Paul Marsh is president of the Law Society