Two-for-one special: legal advice and your groceries

The Gazette's lead story at the beginning of the month that employed solicitors could, in time, offer their services to the public has been a slow burner, but more and more newspapers are picking up on it to the extent that The Times carried the story on its front page this week (28 January).The headline - 'Shoppers to check out legal advice at the supermarket' - reflects the tenor of the coverage of other papers, such as The Independent and The Telegraph, with spokesmen for Tesco and Marks & Spencer both expressing interest.The Times described the potential relaxation of practice rule 4 as the equivalent of the Labour Party's abolition of clause four - 'a fundamental reform needed if the profession is to survive'.Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said the change - if approved by the council and then the profession in consultation - would not mean the end of the high street solicitor.

'This is about seizing opportunities; it is not a threat,' she told the paper.The Financial Times expanded on the story the same day, telling how Abbey National bank has already 'drawn up provisional plans to create a national chain of solicitors should the Law Society move ahead with radical proposals to deregulate the legal services market'.

Banks and supermarkets would have to be careful to ensure they did not damage their brands, the FT said.

'Companies are wary about getting embroiled in legal disputes between their customers, such as acting against a valued account-holder in a contentious matrimonial fight.'Andrew Pople, Abbey National's managing director for retail banking, also named crime as an area it would probably avoid.

However, its plan - which is at the 'conceptual stage' - centred on areas of law such as conveyancing, wills, executorships, and trust services that dovetail with its existing services.He added that the bank would be 'most interested in franchising in large city centre branches'.Even The Sun - not known for its legal reporting - last week announced that 'Tesco shoppers could soon be able to get a divorce while picking up their groceries' (21 January).

The Telegraph columnist Oliver Pritchett was rather taken by the idea of supermarkets offering legal advice, as 'people will not find the law so intimidating when they go into their local supermarket and see a sign saying 'swear two affidavits, swear the third one free!!' (23 January).

However, he did warn against a new type of 'trolley chasing lawyer' who hovers in the aisles 'hoping to make money out of disputes in the check-out queue and collisions near the tinned fruit'.In what must be judged a positive press week for the profession, The Times and FT both reported on this week's advertisements for a lay complaints commissioner (25 & 28 January).

'In a move approved by the Lord Chancellor and the Master of the Rolls, [the commissioner] is being engaged to provide a guarantee of fair play for the consumer,' wrote The Times.Valentine's Day seemed to have come early at Westminster, as The Independent reported that MPs look set to soften their stance on transsexual marriage (22 January).Ministers are reforming the law and recommending 'the issuing of new birth certificates and granting legal recognition to Britain's 5,000 transsexuals', individuals who have legally changed their sex but up until now 'are forbidden from having their gender recognised on their birth certificates'.And finally, a contender for the most topical lawyer's job currently being advertised.

The Independent reported that the Sunday Mirror - made famous for causing the collapse last year of the first Leeds footballers' trial and currently facing a contempt of court action - is advertising for a new in-house lawyer (22 January).The successful applicant should have 'considerable experience' in the laws of contempt, and essential to the job is 'giving practical advice to the editor about what to publish'.Victoria MacCallum