A Time of Change: Solicitors’ Firms in England and Wales

105 Pages Posted: 25 Feb 2014

See all articles by Pascoe Pleasence

Pascoe Pleasence

University College London

Nigel Balmer

Victoria Law Foundation; University College London

Richard Moorhead

Exeter Law School, University of Exeter; Centre for Ethics and Law, Faculty of Laws, UCL London

Date Written: January 16, 2013

Abstract

Recession and structural changes to the market for legal services are combining to create a turbulent environment for the solicitors’ profession. The recession has had a significant impact on demand for legal services. Changing fee structures, increased competition, changes to ownership rules and the introduction of new technologies are providing challenges and disruption to traditional forms of practice. Then there are changes to legal aid, which will soon lead to a substantial reduction in legal aid payments to the profession. This presents a particular challenge for traditional legal aid practice.

This report sets out the findings of a survey of solicitors’ firms commissioned by the Law Society, Legal Services Board and Ministry of Justice to provide a benchmark of the profession at a time of significant regulatory and legal aid policy changes. The survey was conducted by TNS-BMRB, and achieved a sample of 2,007 solicitors’ firms across England and Wales, ranging from sole practitioners to large corporate firms. Fieldwork was conducted in April and May 2012. To enable a broader range of analyses and fill gaps in the data, the survey data was supplemented by administrative data drawn from the Law Society’s Regis system and legal aid related data from the Legal Services Commission.

Keywords: Lawyers, Legal Services, Solicitors

JEL Classification: L10, L20, L21, L22, L23

Suggested Citation

Pleasence, Pascoe T. and Balmer, Nigel and Moorhead, Richard Lewis, A Time of Change: Solicitors’ Firms in England and Wales (January 16, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2202126 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2202126

Pascoe T. Pleasence (Contact Author)

University College London ( email )

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

Nigel Balmer

Victoria Law Foundation ( email )

5/43 Hardware Lane
Melbourne, 3000
Australia
3000 (Fax)

University College London

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

Richard Lewis Moorhead

Exeter Law School, University of Exeter ( email )

University of Exeter
Exeter, Devon EX4 4RJ
United Kingdom

Centre for Ethics and Law, Faculty of Laws, UCL London ( email )

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

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