The Co-operative Group's new legal services arm this week selected a panel of seven law firms to perform the group's legal expenses insurance work.


The firms will conduct personal injury, employment and consumer work in fulfilment of the group's household and motor legal expenses policies. This is likely to be extended to private client, conveyancing, estate management and will writing as Co-operative Legal Services expands its domain over the next 12 months.



The panel appointments are north-west firm Pannones, Blake Lapthorn Linnell in the south, Clarke Willmott in Bristol, Loosemores in Cardiff, Redill-based Gray Hooper Holt, Colemans-ctts in Kingston, and HBJ Gateley Wareing in Glasgow.



Co-operative Legal Services operations director Jonathan Gulliford said other firms were likely to join the panel in the future. He added: 'We have only been live for three weeks, and are still in the embryonic stage. But in the next 12 months, we want to extend our services to Co-operative members, with access to our legal helplines. We will also push for the changes in the Legal Services Bill to allow non-law firms to provide legal services direct to the public to go through. I see a political lobbying role for the Co-operative.'



Mr Gulliford added that he had been 'disappointed' by the constitutional affairs committee's report on the Legal Services Bill. The report recommended that the government should use 'less haste and more care' in relation to alternative business structures, and put forward a four-stage plan starting with legal disciplinary partnerships and no external ownership, eventually leading to multi-disciplinary partnerships with free-market ownership (see (2006) Gazette, 3 August, 6).



Mr Gulliford said: 'I am keen to have a faster timetable and will be pushing for that.'



Rachel Rothwell