In the great tradition of Commerce and Industry (C&I) Group heads, Ian Thomson accepted his chairmanship with a suitably lengthy speech to the record number of guests gathered at the group's recent annual dinner in Leeds.And as usual, the C&I Group chairman seized the opportunity to renew the group's bid for more Law Society cash.Mr Thomson does not beat around the bush: 'If I said I wasn't disappointed, I would be lying.

We get £12,000, which works out to something less than £2 per member, and the overwhelming majority of our members have practising certificates because we encourage them to.

We must generate quite a lot of revenue for the Law Society on that basis.' (Employed solicitors are not required to take out practising certificates.)That is why Mr Thomson thinks his members are getting a bad return for their money.

'It's a constant issue, a constant battle and a headache.

I just wish it didn't have to happen,' he says.He does admit the Law Society has given extra finances for particular projects as and when they come up, but he complains the sums are not guaranteed.Plans under consideration at Chancery Lane would see many of the Society's groups cut loose, which would mean an end to central funding.

'The omens are not good,' Mr Thomson says with foreboding.

'If the Law Society withdraws funding, we will survive.

Of that I have no doubt.

The people I feel for are not as well equipped to go out and raise funds as we are.'However, Law Society President Michael Napier assures groups that they play an 'extremely valuable role in representing members' interests'.

He adds: 'Any current and future deliberations about the role and funding of the groups and the members they represent will involve full consultation with them.

In the meantime, funding for groups, including the C&I, will continue."Relations between the Law Society and the C&I Group in particular have been strained since the Kamlesh Bahl affair.

Ms Bahl was one of the group's representatives on the ruling Council, and the then-chairman Edward Smethurst initially gave strong backing to her over the dignity at work saga which eventually saw her resign.But the wrangle over cash is viewed as more Law Society in-fighting by some in-house lawyers -- and ultimately bad press for the C&I Group.The group is raising money itself.

In June, it announced that income had almost doubled over the year, from £59,023 to £112,743, because of increased Law Society funding, sponsorship, commercial funding and generated income.Proud of the achievement of his predecessor, Mr Thomson says: 'It would be nice if we could serve as a model [to other Law Society groups] in that respect.'There has been a sea change in attitudes towards sponsorship within the group from a time when it was regarded as 'prostitution' in the C&I ranks.

But it has now come around to the idea that raising money is not evil.Much of the impetus for this -- which has also seen the group incorporate, adopt a corporate management structure and form alliances with commercial companies -- has come from in-house lawyers' growing confidence.

Far from being second-class members of the profession, as they were once viewed, they are currently very much centre stage.Many private practitioners are keen to move in-house, with the promise of a better quality of life than at the top City law firms and also the chance to get involved in the business side of a company's work.

In addition, the publishing world now produces several magazines just for in-house lawyers, some selling 'advertorial' space to law firms on the basis that they will be sent to in-house lawyers all over the world.

Others organise conferences in glamorous foreign locations, the in-house lawyers' participation paid for by the private practitioners who want to meet them.

In return for effectively paying for their trips, the law firms are able to nominate a number of in-house lawyers they want to meet and schmooze.One in-house lawyer notes that conference providers, publishers and so on are are making 'pots of money' from this sector.

'In-house lawyers appreciate any kind of support anyone is willing to give them,' he says.

'They are doing what the C&I Group should be doing.'The C&I Gr oup is waking up to this and organises seminars, courses and conferences.

Traditionally, the Law Society group has been best known for its social events, such as the annual general meeting.

This year's was the biggest yet, says Mr Thomson, although the annual meeting was attended by no more than ten C&I members at most, including the office holders.Colin Anderson, vice-chairman of the Law Society of Scotland's in-house lawyers group, who attended the English meeting, admits he was a little surprised at the low turnout and had expected more lawyers to be present.

But this observation has not prevented the Scottish group from forging closer links with its southern counterparts.

In fact, the chosen forum is the C&I's next annual meeting and formal dinner.Mr Anderson said that closer links have been on the cards for a while, but that nothing concrete had come about until now.

He says Mr Thomson is the sort of man who makes things happen -- determined and open to ideas.Mr Thomson, a commercial legal adviser at the Boots group, describes his position at the high street chemist as 'number two'.

He insists it is only through the understanding of his head of legal that has made it possible for him to agree to take the key role in the group in which he has been active for a decade.After qualifying in 1985, Mr Thomson practised at Hull general practice Iversons.

But his career in private practice did not last long and he headed for British Coal the following year.

He says proudly: 'At the time, it was the largest in-house legal department in the country.'He also did a stint at Nestli, where -- in what is a rather minor claim to fame -- he starred in a careers video which also featured the lawyer brother of comic actor Tim Brooke-Taylor as the representative of private practice.

Sporting a white coat and hat, Mr Thomson appeared on the Nestli factory floor in his first publicity opportunity on behalf of in-house lawyers.

But do not be fooled by his movie star past.

One insider says: 'He is perhaps not as flamboyant as his predecessor.'It was during his time at British Coal that he first became involved in the C&I Group.

He moved to its Doncaster office in February 1987 and found it bursting with C&I Group supporters.

He recalls: 'A lot of people in the department supported the group, and two colleagues sat on the north-east regional committee.'He contends that the group has changed enormously since then: 'The big difference is that we are much more focused on the importance of conceiving of and implementing proper strategies.'Edward Smethurst: the 'flamboyant' previous C&! Group chairmanThe credit for that goes to former C&I chairwoman Elizabeth Wall, now head of legal at telecoms company Equant.

'We started to get ourselves organised under Elizabeth Wall.

She put a lot of things down, which will bear fruit in years to come,' Mr Thomson says, including the June to June C&I calendar and laying foundations for employing administrative staff.This year, Mr Thomson plans to stamp his mark on the C&I legacy by getting back to his regional roots.

He explains that until recently, most C&I events were held in London, which made it difficult for regional members to attend.And yet again, cash is central to the issue.

Mr Thomson says the northern groups are particularly hard hit by lack of finance.

'We have a couple of die-hards there, but we don't have the funds to support it,' he admits.Other plans include, as Mr Thomson puts it, 'development of the group in the sector of issues'.

He explains: 'On the train down I've been writing co rrespondence on rule 4 of the practice rules [which deals with employed solicitors].

It seems to be working unfairly in the case I am looking at because it is operating so as to prevent an employed solicitor from acting for a client in a case where there is no particular risk or prejudice to the client.'Other issues, such as privilege and rights of audience, are on the agenda.

Mr Thomson has a big job ahead of him.

In-house lawyers are being targeted by market-savvy commercial organisations which view them as key decision-makers.

During his one-year chairmanship, Mr Thomson will be expected to deliver to an ever-more demanding membership base which will be expecting to see more industry awareness from the lawyers at the heart of commerce and industry.