Lawyers employed by the Official Solicitor’s office are happy with their workplace situation despite an increasing caseload, research has shown.

The annual report of the Official Solicitor and Public Trustee Office (OSPTO), which employs 15 lawyers, found that despite a rise in the number of its cases over the past year, three-quarters of employees are happy with their career - up from 67% last year.


Solomons: challenging career

The OSPTO deals with the most vulnerable members of society who cannot act for themselves, such as children and people suffering from mental incapacity.

The report predicted a continuing increase in terms of workload owing to potential new services, including the introduction of child trust funds, legislation affecting child abduction cases, and more mental incapacity legislation.


It also indicated that the majority of solicitors who have had dealings with the office say they are satisfied with its performance; out of more than 400 lawyers who had been in contact with the OSPTO, 86% said they thought it had performed well or very well. Most - 85% - said staff were approachable, with more than 80% praising staff competence and legal awareness.


The OSPTO employs 166 staff overall, most of whom are caseworkers working under the direct supervision of its lawyers, and it scored particularly well against government training targets. The office outsources more than 95% of its workload to private practice law firms.


The bulk of the OSPTO workload is family cases, including those dealt with by the child abduction unit, the report showed. There was also an increase in the number of civil litigation cases the office took on, with a rise of 12% on last year.


When it came to money matters, the OSPTO dealt with estates worth almost £43 million and trusts totalling £272 million in 2004.


Deputy Official Solicitor and Public Trustee Edward Solomons said the office had recently undertaken a successful recruitment drive and was unlikely to be looking for more staff. He said that although, like most publicly-funded bodies, the OSPTO could do with more staff, it provided a challenging and rewarding career. ‘The work involves a fast pace, wide variety and often ground-breaking law,’ he said.