Rallying call for sole practitionersSole practitioners have survived a tough year and have a 'vibrant future' ahead of them, according to newly-elected Sole Practitioners Group chairman Peter Williams.

Speaking to the Gazette at the group's annual conference in Bristol last weekend, Mr Williams - who became a sole practitioner three years ago - said he was 'more than convinced' that sole practitioners would survive.

'Our days are not numbered so long as clients require a personal, hands-on service where they are dealt with by the same solicitor throughout,' he said.Mr Williams said that over the next year, the group would be 'knocking on the [Law Society] president's door asking for more funding and for more backing'.

He said it would be lobbying Chancery Lane to relax its requirements on office manning, which were both difficult for sole practitioners and unnecessary with the advent of mobiles and laptop computers.The group would also continue its work to stop the 'blatant discrimination' of some mortgage lenders which refused to have sole practitioners on their panel, Mr Williams said.

The idea that sole practitioners posed a higher risk than other solicitors 'is perceived rather than actual' and unsubstantiated by any hard statistical evidence, he added.

Outgoing chairman Paul Boucher highlighted changes to legal aid funding and the introduction of Lord Woolf's civil justice reforms as two areas which had had a 'devastating effect' on sole practitioners over the last year.

However, he said: 'Sole practitioners have a bright future as long as we get our acts together and move with the times.'Richard Brown, professional indemnity director at Nelson Hurst - which has been nominated to broker insurance for the group when the Solicitors Indemnity Fund ceases in September - said a recent survey showed sole practitioners had shown a loss rate of around 30% on average.

'That is a rate underwriters dream of,' he said.

Sole practitioners were no greater risks than larger firms, he maintained.Sole practitioners would in future stand on their individual claims records, which could see significant savings for firms with good risk assessment procedures and a good claims record, he said.Sue Allen