Employing success

Janet Paraskeva outlines how a thriving employed sector, under proper regulation, can provide many benefits to UK businesses and industry

Employed solicitors make a tremendous contribution to the development of business and industry in Britain and to the UK economy as a whole, although this fact often goes unrecognised.

Law Society statistics reveal that the employed sector is currently the fastest growing area of practice, with more than a fifth of those holding a practising certificate working outside private practice.

The value to employers of the in-house legal team also continues to grow.

In-house lawyers can provide cost effective specialist legal advice, and have an increasingly important role in corporate governance.

They contribute to business development in many other ways, too.

In-house solicitors often act as co-ordinators for the outsourcing of legal work and become involved with public affairs, risk management and general business analysis.

In addition to their specialist legal knowledge, in-house solicitors have a host of skills that are eminently transferable to the business sector.

Employed practice has also presented real opportunities in improving equality of access to and diversity within the solicitors' profession.

Employment - as opposed to self-employment - may be attractive to those wishing to work part time, or take career breaks.

New ways of working may begin to change the way the law is practised, leading to more varied career options for solicitors.

In-house solicitors often enjoy the benefits of a more flexible working environment.

For example, it can be no accident that 42.4% of solicitors holding practising certificates in commerce and industry are women, compared with 35.2% of practising certificate holders in private practice.

Clearly, the employed sector is particularly attractive to women, who often choose flexible working options to take into account childcare commitments.

However, such flexibility is increasingly important to male solicitors as well, particularly those wanting to take a greater share in domestic responsibilities or those who simply want to improve their work/life balance.

The hope is that more and more private practice firms will recognise the economic benefits of adopting similar working practices.

This could make a significant difference to their futures, in particular their ability to recruit the most able young solicitors.

In the Public Interest, the Lord Chancellor's Department consultation paper, turned the spotlight on employed lawyers.

While the paper addressed a whole range of issues, one of the most important points was the possibility of permitting employed lawyers to deliver legal services directly to their employer's clients.

The Society believes that a key to the success of expanding opportunities for employed solicitors is the right kind of regulation.

In the Society's view, commercial organisations can only be permitted to provide services to their customers through employed solicitors if they can guarantee the same level of consumer protection as solicitors in private practice.

This is why the Society proposes that where employed lawyers deliver legal services directly to the public they should do so through a ring- fenced legal practice regulated by the Society.

Every solicitor is familiar with the core values that distinguish the profession and provide its distinctive badge of quality and expertise - independence, integrity and the avoidance of conflicts of interest.

One issue the consultation was trying to establish was whether it would be possible for employed lawyers, offering legal advice to clients other than their employers, still to provide a service that meets these standards.

The Society has no doubt that this is possible, but it is also clear that the regulation of these lawyers would need to be on a par with the regulation of lawyers in private practice.

In a ring-fenced or incorporated practice, there would be no distinction between these solicitors and those working in private practice.

Every solicitor is trained in the same way through the legal practice course, and whether employed or in private practice, all solicitors abide by the same rules, obligations and responsibilities.

This model of practice surely has the potential for great success, not just for the businesses concerned, but also for the individual solicitors they employ and, therefore, for the profession and the public.

I recognise that there is more to this issue than simply the need to provide regulatory equivalence.

The Society's response drew attention to the risk that access to justice would be impaired if the commercial organisations cherry-picked the most profitable legal services, and we urged the government to research that issue before taking the final decision.

As Society president, Carolyn Kirby, remarked recently at the Commerce and Industry Group conference, employed lawyers make a substantial contribution to British business, and the Commerce and Industry Group itself plays a key role.

For the Society, the relationship with the group is of the greatest importance in its support for the flourishing of employed practice.

The profession is changing and styles of practice are changing.

A growing employed sector is an important feature of that change, and a successful employed sector is a significant part of the profession's future.

Janet Paraskeva is the Law Society chief executive