Factory conveyancers and so-called 'Tesco Law' do not represent as big a threat to the future of the high street as many fear, the chief executive of Hammonds Direct claimed.

Addressing a plenary session on the future framework for legal services, John Heller said the market for conveyancing is 'so large' that there is plenty of room for both factory and high street conveyancers.

The issue is choice, he maintained.

'Some people want the personal service the high street can provide,' he said, while others were happy with the commoditised service on offer at Hammonds Direct.

As an example of the importance of price in some sectors, he said he was scheduled to participate in an on-line bid for work the following day.

Mr Heller also predicted that if Tesco did enter the legal market, it would in all likelihood outsource the provision of services, offering a lifeline to the high street.

However, William Arthur, head of the professional practices team at Barclays, said the effect of Tesco Law could be that 'some firms which are marginal now could become unviable, and some firms which are reasonably profitable now will become marginal'.

John Pratt, the former managing partner of Pinsents, said that to succeed in the future, firms need to become 'trendy and exciting places to shop, and trendy and exciting places to work'.

Being pessimistic, he said he feared that mid-tier law firms would not change sufficiently, and continue to take on flash premises 'with facilities [they] don't need' and IT that costs a huge amount 'to provide information [they] don't need'.

He also said such firms 'will continue to open very, very expensive overseas offices.

I don't know why'.

Comparing law firms to department stores, he said the largest commercial practices were like Harrods or Fortnum & Mason.

The problem facing such firms, he said, was that they may become similar to lower-grade department stores where nobody feels very good about the products or working there.

The growth of niche practices offered one future for firms like Pinsents, he said, turning them into the legal equivalents of Selfridges with many quality niche practices under the same roof.

Neil Rose