Given that the Code of Conduct now requires law firms to have in place a proper management structure, how well is this really being accepted? And how well is this being implemented?

The problem, and perceived cost, of compliance is greater in the small and medium-sized firms that do not have the critical mass to minimise the cost of bringing in professionals as a percentage of total expenditure.

Is the difficulty that lawyers (or many of them, anyway) believe that because they are lawyers they can do anything? Or that management is something anybody can do? Accepting an ‘outsider’ to do the job, for many, is still an issue.

Management, however, is not a strict science – it often requires ‘80/20’ decisions. Solicitors are not known for their speed in decision making, disabled to a great extent by the partnership structures which, even if they don’t now exist in name, exist in many cases in practice.

The introduction of skilled managers to firms will be a shock to the system in many cases, and even more so when former managing or senior partners consider the option of being managed by them. It is, and will be, a hard road to climb, but it must surely be done as quickly as possible. Effective managers want to get things done.

Given that the Legal Services Act introduces the opportunity to bring non-solicitors into partnership – as of 31 March, LDPs allow up to 25% of owners to be non-lawyers – the acceptance of professional managers at partner level still has some way to go in many firms. Given also that there is a recessionary background to this, making the necessary changes fast enough to keep out the competition from new legal services providers means the challenge is great indeed.

Am I right in suggesting that many will pay lip service to the requirements and subsequently fail?

For many, the only way to achieve the goal will be to merge – even if they are currently holding their own. Experience tells us that in other industries, such as financial services or retail, to survive there will have to be fewer but bigger providers, and non-lawyer managers will find their place accepted eventually.

For the Law Society’s new practice notes on firm-based regulation and LDPs, click here. Rupert White, Gazette