Getting on equal footing

Paula Rohan talks to solicitors who have taken the first steps towards building personal injury networks and finds that, through vigorous marketing, firms are determined to claw back business lost to claims companies

For Diane Rostron, it was the last straw.

The partner at Blackpool firm Rostrons had seen so much local personal injury (PI) work go to claims management companies, she decided that if she couldn't beat them, she would have to join them instead.

'I found this a loathsome and frankly appalling experience,' she recalls.

'Indeed, the very last meeting that I had with a representative of one claims management company took place over the course of one weekend when I personally vetted 1,500 of their files, only to accept 12.'

That plan having backfired, Ms Rostron embarked on a last-ditch attempt to bring in the work by enlisting the help of other firms in the area.

Soon after, the Fylde Solicitors Consortium (FSC) - a marketing group comprised of 14 local PI firms - was born.

Since then, the FSC has implemented a local radio and newspaper advertising campaign, and Ms Rostron has taken on the job of running a call centre, receiving calls from potential clients and passing them on to member firms by fax or e-mail.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the country in Kent, PI solicitors at Chatham firm Stephens & Son were brooding over the same problem - and coming up with the same solution.

'We talked about this over numerous cups of coffee, frequently lamenting the fact that none of the organisations to which we belonged seemed to be willing to take the lead,' says partner Jacqueline Shicluna.

'We expected somebody to take the lead and tell us what to do.

Then it dawned on us that nobody was going to do so and that if we felt that strongly about the matter, we ought to try and do it ourselves.'

The result was the 11-strong Kent Accident Link (KAL), which has put together a leaflet and bought advertising space in the Yellow Pages and Thomson directories.

Both FSC and KAL operate by way of a not-for-profit limited company, and respondents to the adverts are referred to member firms on a rotational basis.

Other like-minded firms have followed suit; most recently the 26-member Injury Lawyers 4U (IL4U), created by Manchester firm Amelans, has begun an ambitious television advertising campaign (see [2003] Gazette, 23 January, 3).

Amelans will be following in the footsteps of Manchester-based Rowlands, which decided to cut out the middle-man last autumn, launching a series of direct radio advertisements featuring BBC radio sports presenter Alan Green on local station Key 103 for its PI department (see [2002] Gazette, 19 September, 5).

Another consortium will soon be up and running if Wiltshire firm Bishop Longbotham & Bagnall gets its way - and things are looking good.

'Our plans are progressing and we have more than 20 firms expressing solid interest,' says partner Richard Stephens.

'We are at the present time evaluating a mixed media campaign including regional television, and will be calling a meeting at the end of February with a view to starting the campaign later in the spring.'

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has called on firms to embrace these kinds of networks as a way to bring in business and boost the profession's reputation.

So how does one go about the complex task of setting up a consortium?

Amelans partner Andrew Twambley maintains that if the scheme is to work, it must focus on a number of key elements.

'We sat down with a view to analysing the entire PI marketplace, looking at the trends and recent developments in this constantly changing industry,' he says.

Amelans came to a number of conclusions.

Transparency for both members and clients was an issue, it decided, as was making the client's interest paramount and ensuring direct access with the solicitor dealing with the claim.

Ensuring that clients are not burdened with hidden fees, loans or credit agreements is also part of IL 4U's ethos.

Amelans is adamant that firms should be able to run cases as they see fit, without being tied down to a particular insurance policy or funding arrangement.

Ms Shicluna says the starting point must be simplicity and realism.

'An expensive scheme that promises many, many referrals is of no use whatsoever to most small to medium-sized firms without the infrastructure to handle a dramatic increase in workload,' she argues.

'A steady increase can be accommodated and built upon, and this is what we hope KAL will achieve.'

The first step, says Mr Twambley, is to identify the market you are targeting, and then test the waters by speaking informally to other firms.

You can then take practical action.

'Armed with our research, we bought the company, engaged an advertising firm, saw various call centres and hired a media company to advise on the best methods of advertising.

We then carefully selected a number of leading firms to present the idea to in detail.'

Then comes the hard part - convincing other firms to join in.

Solicitors' firms are traditionally isolationist, and Mr Twambley admits it was not an easy job.

'The reason solicitors have never done anything like this in the past is that they tend to be suspicious of each other and individual egos may have interrupted logical thought,' he says.

He and partner Martin Cockx pulled it off through virtue of being 'brilliant performers and natural showmen', he says immodestly, but also through a genuine belief in what they were aiming to achieve.

'With IL4U, we all had a common goal and the vehicle to achieve this is totally transparent to all those with a ticket to join in - that is to say, all the members,' he says.

Ms Rostron tried an alternative tactic when writing to all the local PI firms and inviting them to the initial meeting.

One of her motivations was concern about the 'meagre' damages successful clients were gaining when they went through claims management companies.

She says: 'I accompanied the letter with a report from our local newspaper of a young woman who had only received 250 in damages from an overall damages award of 2,500,' she says.

'Of the 30 who attended, some 14 agreed to commit themselves financially.'

For most firms, this is the nub of the issue - it is not easy to convince them to dig deep when there is a risk that it might all go down the drain, although many are prepared to make the investment.

One firm that signed up to IL4U was leading Manchester firm Pannone & Partners, a one-time Claims Direct panel member.

PI head Carol Jackson says it decided to join in because television advertising would otherwise have been out of its price range.

'Amelans presented it to us as a business proposition, which we considered and evaluated much the same as we would any other proposition,' she says.

'There was a certain amount of risk but because TV is such a strong medium and so popular with the public, it seemed sensible for all of us to put our hands in our pockets and put it all into one pot.'

But the process of setting up a consortium is not all plain sailing, even when the idea has successfully been sold to other firms.

Ms Rostron says she found it difficult to get people motivated enough to turn up to subsequent meetings or reply to e-mails, while Mr Twambley says Amelans' main investment has been time.

'Martin, myself, our business development officer and our director of finance have done little else for the past four months, but we feel sure it will be worth it,' he says.

And IL4U seems to be doing well.

Its first advert aired earlier this month and Ms Jackson is convinced that the risk paid off.

'The signs are very positive,' she says.

'Not only are the cases coming in, but we are getting enquiries from other lawyers and we are feeding these through to Amelans.'

However, Ms Rostron admits that some FSC firms have been disappointed by the lack of a 'quick fix' of scores of cases a week.

But she adds: 'I do believe that the process is a slow one and that, gradually, the public is getting the message that local solicitors are available to help them with their personal injury claims and that there is no need to go to claims companies.'

FSC will be reviewed after 12 months to see whether it has paid off.

Mr Twambley says he will also be monitoring feedback, but is less reticent: 'When it becomes the success we have planned for, we will consider rolling it out further.'

Solicitors at KAL are also optimistic, and would ultimately like to see the scheme extended across the country but maintain this is dependent upon PI lawyers themselves.

'If we expect others to set up the schemes and run them for us, then we should not be surprised if they turn out to be very costly and not necessarily what we had in mind,' says Ms Shicluna.

'The only way to ensure that such networks run in the way that we PI lawyers want them to run is to have a hands-on approach.'

All the consortium leaders say they would be happy to advise firms interested in setting up similar ventures.

As Ms Rostron puts it, firms have to be 'in it to win it' if they want to empower themselves and take back what they have lost.

'[A] stumbling block is general apathy of the profession in not responding - and it is this apathy that allowed claims companies to get such a foothold in the first place,' she warns.