The Law Society is currently engaged in important work on assessing the impact of the proposed general criminal contract on a sample of individual firms.

It is vital that we obtain as clear a picture as possible on how firms typical ly will fare under the new contract before we can give final advice to the profession.

The timescale is tight: there is a national meeting for criminal practitioners on 2 March in Birmingham and the deadline for signing contracts is 8 March.

In the meantime, as confirmed in my letter to all crime specialist firms last week, the Law Society Council's December resolution stands that firms should not, at present, sign the contract until advised that it is fair and workable.The negotiating group of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association, the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association and the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, co-ordinated and led by the Law Society, has made progress on the terms of the contract since it was first published last autumn.

Some of the initial heavy administrative burdens have been eased.

Payment will now be made for work involved in file reviews (although for one fee earner only).

The term of the contract -- now three years with a rolling annual renewal -- is less of a gamble for those firms which will have to invest in IT and systems to take it on.

In particular, it can no longer be unilaterally altered without notice.

Moreover, there is now to be a standing joint Legal Service Commission/Law Society monitoring committee to keep the contract under continuous review.

And, after an eight-year freeze on payment rates, the government has decided to increase pay through a complex mixture of rates that ranges between 7.25% and 10.25%.Even so, I am acutely aware that despite this apparent progress, criminal specialist practitioners, still angered by the pent-up frustration of an eight-year pay freeze, are deeply worried about the overall terms (for example, the compliance audit) and the remuneration implications of the contract.

Negotiation has been difficult because of the disjointed approach our negotiators have had to face.

First, last autumn, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) published the terms of the draft contract, but without information about payment rates which made any meaningful assessment of it impossible.

Once the proposed rates were published, negotiations on rates of pay commenced with the LSC and the Lord Chancellor's Department.

This part of the process ended only on 5 February last when the Lord Chancellor wrote to me setting out his decision on the new rates.The Society and the specialist criminal practitioner groups have had little more than a fortnight since then to assess the full impact of the contract.

The Society is now urgently re-examining the commission's assumptions and calculations that underlie the proposals.

At a recent meeting, all the groups agreed that although the contract proposals do represent an improvement over the commission's original proposals, they remain unsatisfactory.Almost all those who had the opportunity to assess the overall impact of the package had concluded that the introduction of the contract would lead to a significant reduction in their income from criminal work, rather than an increase.

Practitioners may now wish to make their own calculations as to the impact of the contract proposals on their firms.

I would be grateful to see any calculations which firms may make.Having received many letters and attended meetings -- as have the Vice-President, David McIntosh, the Deputy Vice-President, Carolyn Kirby, and the chairman of the negotiation group, Rodney Warren -- I know that this is a difficult time for specialist practitioners.

I am also aware of the local agreements entered into by many firms to stand together pending receipt of advice.

I assu re you that we will do all that we can to assess the accurate position and to give the clearest possible advice within the timescale.There will be an opportunity to consider the up-to-date analysis of the contract and the position generally at a meeting for all practitioners in England and Wales at the NEC in Birmingham on 2 March (see, page 56).REFORM OF LAW SOCIETY GOVERNANCEOne of the important strands of the governance reforms that comes before the special general meeting on 28 February is the proposal to increase the size of the council to include wider representation from groups and associations.

We can benefit working together in this way as the work with the groups on criminal contracts has shown.Our approach in the criminal contracting negotiations has been strengthened by all the specialist practitioner associations acting in concert in a negotiating group co-ordinated by the Law Society.

In this way the Law Society can enhance its representative voice for its members.The reform package, which includes changes to the charter and by-laws to enlarge the council and to establish a framework of modern governance of the Society, will be considered at the special general meeting at 2.30pm on 28 February in the Law Society's Hall at 113 Chancery Lane in London.

If, as I hope, the reforms are supported, we will have a stronger professional body that will be fight more effectively for its members and command the greater respect for the Law Society and all that is stands for on behalf of the solicitors' profession.