The solicitors' profession is under continual attack from government and the media; never have we felt so unloved, and so lacking in professional self-confidence.Increasingly over recent years we in the City of London have questioned the relevance of, and indeed the need for, the Law Society.

It has seemed out of touch with our concerns - there was no need for the City firms' views on the Solicitors Indemnity Fund to be the subject of professionally damaging public debate.

Young people entering the profession are questioning whether they will enjoy a healthy balance in their lives - whether the stress of being a solicitor is worthwhile.

Blame for allowing this state of affairs (whether justified or not) is focused on the Law Society.If the Society is to give the profession leadership and to 'rediscover and communicate the moral legitimacy of the legal profession' to the wider community then reform is essential.This week the Council of the Society is debating the first stage of those changes contained in a paper 'Improving Decision Making'.

The current office holders were elected in July and have brought these proposals forward in only four months.

It is a measure of their commitment and a demonstration of support from both committee chairmen and the staff that this paper is available now - if there was not the will to change, bureaucracy would undoubtedly have delayed the process.No solicitors' firm would survive with meetings of 75 partners every few weeks deciding the minutiae of operations, drowning in mountains of paper, and with no management team - how can we expect our profession to have effective leadership and policies, to be proactive in facing the challenges which face us, unless we have the structures to deliver.Implementation of the proposals would mean the Council would in future spend time debating and deciding policy; an executive committee would be created to help develop and oversee implementation of that policy and provide for staff accountability; and the process would start of reducing 160 committees down to a manageable and effective number.Another disheartening issue over recent years has been the number of fought elections for Law Society office.

Now and then an election may be appropriate - we should not get complacent - but how can any organisation hope to have coherence and consistency of policy if its leadership is not a team, and if there is an unplanned change of policy and priority every year? How will we ever encourage the best of our members to devote the time and commitment to the good of our profession, rather than just of their own firms, unless less there is a culture which enables the most talented to rise quickly to leadership without the risk of wasting their efforts because of the vagaries of the electoral process?Another lesson from business is that organisations succeed because of people - business structures are merely a tool to enable the people to operate effectively.

This year we are again fortunate in having a group of office holders who work together (and I mean wor k) as a team and who have the confidence of the professional staff.'Improving Decision Making' is bound to have flaws - no proposal for major change will ever be perfect.

But the overall package of proposals is a sensible strategic basis for the future and worthy of overwhelming endorsement.

There will be a year for the new arrangements to settle in - time enough to work through the small print.At the Solicitors Annual Conference in October, the President, Michael Mathews, said: 'I'm very aware that the profession is cynical about the Law Society's capacity to change.

But reform there must be.

Our objectives must be to serve the profession better and to serve the public interest better.

I am determined to deliver.'Nobody could argue with these words.

All solicitors' firms have a need for support from a strong and active professional body - one which is well equipped to take up the fight on their behalf when the challenges are posed.

In this respect the City firms are no different from firms on the high street.