Chancery Lane or Bowling Green Lane? The Law Society or the Society of Lawyers? Worried that members of the public might mistake one for the other, the Law Society commenced a passing-of f action against the Society of Lawyers earlier this month.

Last week the Gazette visited Bowling Green Lane to speak to the Society of Lawyers' company secretary, Martin Hudson, and chairman, Martin Husbands.Mr Hudson and Mr Husbands believe the word 'lawyer' should be interpreted broadly to cover anyone who regularly gives legal advice.

They are both accountants.

The 69 accredited members of the society include engineers, costs draftsmen, retired policemen and private investigators.

There are also, say the two, solicitors and barristers among the members.'We're not encouraging people suddenly to get up one morning and say "OK, I'm off to be Kavanagh QC because I've read the book for breakfast,"' Mr Husbands explained.

'Many of our members have had 20 or 30 years' experience in their fields.

They're not a bunch of Arthur Daleys.

They may not be solicitors or barristers, they may not be in the club, but many of them have given a decent service to people who just want legal advice in a fairly narrow sense.'Before becoming an accredited member of the Society of Lawyers, applicants must be approved by the accreditation committee.

Mr Husbands said the membership of the committee was made up of a 'number of people' including himself, the company registrar and a consulting engineer.

None of the committee members were solicitors or barristers.Mr Husbands said: 'We're not setting out to create armies of people giving legal advice.

They're already out there giving it.'Mr Hudson explained: 'If there are 80,000 solicitors, there must be 800,000 more people practising law who want to be accredited.

Anybody can get legal advice from a solicitor or barrister, but the public doesn't know they're safe to do business with.''Our accreditation committee either accepts them or says "sorry mate, you've got to do some studying and come back to us".

Every three years, if you want to go on being a member, you have to show you're actually being busy in that area of law.'A publicity hand-out entitled 'An introduction to the Society of Lawyers' promises members, in return for their first year's subscription of £80, professional indemnity insurance (up to £1 million), access to training and a periodic magazine.Some of these benefits are at an early stage.

The magazine, or rather newsletter, has not been published yet and, Mr Hudson said, has no title.

One insurance scheme is up and running, but two others are still being planned.

The Society of Lawyers also has a code of conduct, though a copy is not yet available.Mr Husbands said he was in the process of creating a course for students.

Training, he said, 'comes down to numbers at the end of the day.

The state of development depends on the number of people who come forward.

We see ourselves more as enablers than as anything else.'Mr Husbands argued that if there are societies of black lawyers or Labour lawyers, there is nothing wrong with a Society of Lawyers.

And he contrasted the all-embracing nature of the Law Society with the plethora of different accountancy bodies.'We're not creating new lawyers,' Mr Husbands concluded.

'We're just grading people who give legal advice.'The Law Society's concern about the Society of Lawyers raises the whole question of regulating paralegals.Diane Burleigh, the Law Society's head of court business, stressed the potential danger where providers of legal services describe themselves in a way that could make members of the public feel safe to an unwarranted extent.'We are extremely concerned about the competence of the work of non-qualified claims handlers and will writers and the way the use of a label like the Society of Lawyers might make the public think they are more qualified and competent than they might actually be,' she said.'I think the public on the whole sees lawyers as qualified professionals who practise law.

They often say to trainee solicitors who approach them: "Can I see a proper lawyer?"'The Institute of Legal Executives was equally emphatic.

'Our view is that a lawyer can only be a professionally qualified individual such as a legal executive, solicitor or barrister,' a spokesman said.Keith Richards, senior lawyer at the Consumers Association, took a more liberal approach, saying the most important thing for the consumer was access to information about the 'lawyer' to make sure he or she could be relied on.The Institute of Chartered Accountants took the widest view -- apart from that of the Society of Lawyers itself -- on the definition of lawyer.

An ICA spokesman said it means only that you need to have studied law or have a legal qualification.And if a group of lawyers set up a Society of Accountants?'We would clap them on the back for exposing a loophole in the law that allows anyone to call themselves an accountant,' came the response.