I recently attended the management section's presentation on alternative business structures (ABSs).


The messages that came across from two speakers were that: 'big is beautiful'; 'referral fees are here to stay'; 'be a businessman first and a solicitor second'; and 'factory-operated entities or one-stop shops are the only way forward in a post-Legal Services Act world'.



There was a grudging acceptance that a few sole practitioners might survive on the high street, but that everyone else would have to accept commoditisation in order to survive.



Do we really want to become an organisation that embraces the monopolistic values of the supermarkets - where cost is everything and quality is nothing, clients are customers, and face-to-face service is a thing of the past?



Legal aid is being squeezed out of existence with the result that soon there will only be relatively few factory concerns left throughout the country and access to justice for a great swathe of the population will no longer exist.



The only reason that so much pro bono work is now required is because the system has failed.



Embrace ABSs as proposed and the result will be the same. I think that the independence and integrity of our profession is about to be put into serious jeopardy.



It is time for those who hold such values dear to stand up and demonstrate to the public that there will still be alternatives to these faceless factory entities in future.



DPC O'Hagan, Barry & Blott, Bristol