The AA is set to offer legal services to the public as soon as the government opens up the market in 2007, it said this week.

Head of legal services James Molloy told the Gazette that the motoring organisation did not wish to 'go to war with the legal profession' - but it will be competing on 'value for money'.


It plans to offer wills, conveyancing and personal injury work direct to the public. It is considering whether it might buy a law firm, or set up an in-house legal team.


Mr Molloy said the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has encouraged the AA to comment on its proposals for legal services reform, and invited it to discuss its plans with the department.


He said: 'We will be offering a wide range of consumer-based products and services, including wills, conveyancing and personal injury, as well as more arcane ones. We are talking to consumers at the moment about how we will develop this.


'It will make sense at first to start by cross-selling services to our existing customer base, but beyond that, the sky is the limit. We do not feel it will be restricted to AA members and insurance policy-holders.


'We are going to develop a range of products that are appealing to customers. Our purpose is not to go to war with the existing legal profession - we will need to use lawyers at every stage of the process. But we are keen to develop in a way that gives real choice, real value and an excellent experience [to clients].'


Mr Molloy said that although the AA was, he believed, regarded as a premium brand in their current market, value would be an important factor in offering legal services.


He added: 'We are reviewing the White Paper at the moment, and are interested in what the alternative business structures will mean for us. We have no firm plans yet as to what our post-2007 strategy will be - all options are open to discussion internally. Once we are able to own a law firm or set up an in-house team, we will look at those options.'


Mr Molloy continued: 'We are not actively recruiting at the moment, but there will come a point in time where we will need major growth. But we want to get it right.'


He added that the AA's present arrangement with national firm Shoosmiths, which provides personal injury legal services to the association's customers, will continue 'in the short-term'.


He said: 'We have an agreement with Shoosmiths to provide personal injury work, and so in the short-term we will continue with that, and explore other partners.'


The government issued its White Paper aimed at liberalising the legal services market in October (see [2005] Gazette, 20 October, 1).