Solicitors' law festival 99This year the Law Society's annual conference takes on a radically different look in a bid to stage an event which will interest the widest possible number of practitioners, whether working in small, medium or large firms, or in-house.The event will feature 51 separate sessions - on subjects ranging from funding litigation to millennium computer system compliancy, taxation, the Community Legal Service and pro bono work.

At any one time there will be up to eight sessions running concurrently, covering eight main areas: international, litigation, advocacy, crime, family, law management and property.

The Law Society's organisers are confident that there will be plenty to interest all kinds of solicitors.

Legal Network Television will be broadcasting coverage of the conference into delegates' hotel rooms.The event is also structured to encourage solicitors to bring their families - from its location in Disneyland, Paris to its timing during the school half term.

There is also a busy programme of social events for adults.THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR DELIVERING LEGAL SERVICES IN CREATIVE NEW WAYS IN THE 21ST CENTURY WILL BE A MAJOR THEME AT THE SOLICITORS' LAW FESTIVAL.The plenary session which will open the Solicitors' Law Festival 99 will look at how the legal profession will change as it moves through the new millennium.

Already underway is a massive overhaul of the civil justice and legal aid systems .

In addition, the way in which law firms are structured as businesses is ripe for change, with a draft bill on limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and a Law Society review of the ban on multi-disciplinary partnerships (MDPs).Last week, big five accountants KPMG cast its vote in favour of the multi-disciplinary approach by announcing the establishment of an associated law firm, KLegal, run by partners poached from PricewaterhouseCoopers's associated law firm, Arnheim Tite & Lewis.Arnheim Tite & Lewis managing partner Christopher Tite says that by the mid-21st century, the face of the legal profession will have altered substantially.

'There will be a number of different providers of legal services ranging from the largest law firms in the UK and the US through to much larger version of Arnheim Tite & Lewis operating as part of a global professional services network.

Other providers of legal services will appear; insurance companies, investment banks, even software companies which will develop IT to provide leg al solutions.

I can foresee a future where people get divorced or resolve disputes in real time over the Internet.'In the 21st century, IT will be particularly crucial to the survival of small firms, which look set to be considerably affected by the current civil justice and legal aid reforms.

Neil Davidson, chairman of the Solicitors' Chambers Association, predicts: 'Long before the mid-21st century all sole practitioners will be working in virtual chambers.

Such chambers will operate as paper centres; all the paper work will be received there, all the post opened and documents filed, and scanned in by administrative staff.

The sole practitioners who are members of the chambers, based around the country, will access the documents on-line.

Such chambers are coming faster than anyone realises, apart from the software people, who are homing in on teleworking.'Not only sole practitioners but many solicitors are now motivated to band together in order to compete for everything from legal aid block contracts to big ticket commercial work.

The profession is becoming increasingly rationalised, with mergers announced each week and the green light for MDPs expected soon.A key issue, if and when the rules which currently prohibit MDPs are relaxed, will be whether law firms ought to ditch the partnership structure in favour of a business operation which would increase their chances of forming an MDP.Philip Hamer is the managing partner of Yorkshire firm Philip Hamer & Co, one of a handful of UK firms which has taken advantage of the Law Society's 1992 decision to allow law firms to trade as limited companies by incorporating its Sheffield office.

Mr Hamer says: 'Merging two or three partnerships is a complicated business.

Merging companies is much easier, lawyers do it all the time for their clients.

If MDPs are permitted I would expect more firms to choose the incorporation route with a view to merging with MDPs.

LLPs are another option for facilitating merger, and larger firms are considering it, but from my point of view the restrictions on LLPs contained in the draft legislation are such that the payback doesn't outweigh the benefits of a corporate structure'.The Law Festival plenary session 'Legal services in the 21st century - the big opportunities' will be moderated by the broadcaster, Peter Jay.

Speakers will include key players in the legal services market including Linklaters & Alliance senior partner Tony Angel and Keith James, the chairman of Eversheds and Ward Bower, a partner at Pennsylvania consultants Altman Weil Inc.

Mr Ward, who has advised law firms both here and in the US, believes that financial institutions such as American Express will soon be buying up law practices.

But he adds: 'Independent law firms will survive because clients value independence and some will choose not to use MDPs.'Other speakers on the panel will be Howard Trust, general counsel and group secretary at Barclays Bank and Kerry Underwood, managing partner of Underwoods.THE LAW FESTIVAL INCLUDES SEVEN SESSIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS, OFFERING DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998When it comes to the Human Rights Act, solicitors cannot afford to bury their heads in the sand.

Rodger Pannone, past-President of the Law Society and chairman of its international human rights working party, recently issued this caution: 'The Act will be ignored by the practitioner at his or her own risk because there will be very little in the working environment that will not be affected in one way or another.

If solicitors do not have an understanding of th e implications of the Act, then ...

they could face claims of negligence'.Solicitors might also take a tip as to the importance of the Act from the government itself.

Having enthusiastically enacted the measure, there are signs that ministers have become alarmed at the sheer breadth of its expected impact.

According to a press report last month, the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, considered himself compelled to issue a warning to lawyers and the courts that rights guaranteed after incorporation of the European Convention of Human Rights should not be taken as a cure for all ills.

He was quoted as saying: 'We must make clear that the convention is not a legal panacea...

We rely on the courts to be realistic and sensible in recognising real convention points and handling cases'.Although the convention has been only partially incorporated into UK law - the Act's most notable omission is article 13, the availability of an 'effective remedy' - the scope for challenges is unquestionably wide.

Subject to certain limitations, primary and secondary legislation and the common law can all be the target of an action, as well as the actions of public bodies.

As far as is possible, legislation must be interpreted to give effect in a way that is compatible with convention rights.However, the courts will have no power to strike down a statute that cannot be construed in accordance with the convention.

Judges will have power only to issue a declaration of incompatibility under section 4 of the Act.

Government ministers will then be under no obligation to respond, but if they do, section 10 of the Act provides for a remedial order under which a minister can introduce a 'fast track' statutory instrument to amend or repeal the relevant provision.The Act will extend the concept of human rights under UK law from the current narrow definition to include economic and social rights.

Convention protections can apply to individuals, companies and groups of individuals in both criminal and civil cases.

Challenges can be made against any public authority that causes an individual, company or organisation to suffer through an act that is incompatible with the convention.

The definition of public authority is broad and includes courts, tribunals and anyone whose functions are of a public nature.Solicitors expect many cases under the Act to be in the field of criminal law, such as:-- actions against the police under article 2 of the convention - the right to life;-- article 3 - freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment; and-- article 5 - freedom from arbitrary detention.But the Act also has implications for civil law.

For instance, in the field of immigration, the convention's provision for the right to family life could have a bearing on cases involving same-sex relationships.

Civil rights experts have also suggested that commercial cases might be affected by the Act, in particular where the government is involved, because of rights to the peaceful possession of property.The Act's implementation date has been a topic of frenzied speculation among lawyers, who have received no indication more concrete from the government than repeated assurances that a firm date would be given 'shortly'.

It was scheduled to come into force in early 2000, but the latest rumours have pointed to a possible delay until 2001, in order to give government departments more time to prepare.

To help solicitors carry out their own preparations, the Solicitors' Law Festival will devote seven out of a total 51 sessions to the Human Rights Act 1998.

They cover the gam ut of practice areas likely to be affected and will be overseen by some of the country's most eminent human rights lawyers.

Three separate sessions cover the civil law issues of health, education and welfare, workers' rights, and family law.Criminal practice, the field of law expected to generate the greatest number of claims under convention rights, has two dedicated sessions.

The first, 'Human rights: a time bomb in criminal justice', is forward looking and will examine the challenges of the Act for the criminal justice system as a whole.

A key speaker at this session will be Isabel Schurman, president of the criminal law section of the Canadian Bar Association, who will describe the Canadian experience of implementing similar legislation.

The other criminal law session will consider the impact of the Act on criminal practice.

Barrister and leading human rights expert Ben Emmerson will take a hypothetical problem to help illustrate the implications of the Act from the police station through to trial.In addition to the subject-specific sessions, there will be a wide-ranging human rights forum, involving a panel of experienced human rights lawyers and chaired by European Court of Human Rights judge Nicholas Bratza QC.

In a Question Time format, the debate will examine such difficult questions as the conflict between the right to life and abortion, privacy and press freedom.Lastly, an interactive advanced session, led by four specialist barristers and using video, role-play and discussion, will invite participants to compare outcomes under existing law with those after the Act comes into force.

It will focus on the practical impact of convention rights on a range of administrative law topics.The sessions on human rights at the Festival are; 'Health, eduction and welfare: Does the system violate your clients' human rights?', 'Workers' rights: Hidden violations of the Human Rights Act 1998', 'The Human Rights Forum', 'Human rights: A time bomb in criminal justice', 'Human rights and the family', 'Impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 on criminal practice' and 'Do the rights thing'.