The potential for heavy job losses within the publicly funded legal profession as the result of the Carter Review proposals is immense but there is a chance to start an exciting new working life outside the profession for those affected and prepared to take the plunge, argues John Andrews.

The wide ranging changes proposed by Lord Carter of Coles to the way Legal Aid services are funded makes for sober reading.

The government is hoping that its radical shake up will save some £100m, 20 %, from the Legal Aid bill. It is generally accepted and indeed expected that these ‘savings’ will mean that perhaps 400 of the 2,700 UK law firms, which currently handle Legal Aid work, will stop doing so under the review with the knock on effect on jobs.

So what will become of those lawyers affected by the changes and is there a future for them post Carter? Well, in short, there could well be a very bright future for the individuals concerned by using their very valuable skills and experience in fresh and exciting new fields of employment.

To explain. The overwhelming message arising out of the Carter debate is that echoing the axiom ‘big is beautiful’ as preferred supplier contracts are awarded only to those firms demonstrating the ability to pile it high and sell it cheap.

The flexibility offered by large, multi-disciplined practices will out-strip smaller, niche competitors particularly within the urban territory. Merge or die is the warning being meted out by power brokers and legal pundits.

It cannot be cost effective for the Legal Services Commission to scatter public funds around numerous and varied service providers within already saturated inner city areas.

The answer is therefore simple: reduce the number of contracts to those required to support the ‘uber-firm’. The legal professional conglomerate, made up of many fragments of small and one-horse practices, will emerge from the ashes of what was today’s high street firm.

Some practices are half way there having seen the light many years previously. There are others, however, which have remained small and which provide advice on only one or two areas of law such as crime and family. Some firms have developed a private or corporate clientele whilst retaining a degree of publicly funded work. The incentives for such arrangements to continue are limited in either case.

It is more likely that the already in place merger negotiations between small and medium sized firms will continue as a fail safe for survival should Carter reforms devastate to the extent anticipated. Similarly, those, which have moved towards a corporate client-base, may prefer to dispose of their burdensome ‘legal aid’ component to ensure that the core business thrives.

The fanciful ideal propagated by many legal aid lawyers that they will remain committed to that section of the public who cannot afford to pay for advice or representation must, from their point of view, become questionable. In any event, the Government through its emissary Lord Carter feels differently. Yes, let’s provide a service but why do we need to pay all that money out?

The threat, therefore, comes down to the individual. Some, if not very many, may face redundancy although the effects will be felt differently depending on status.

Young, newly qualified solicitors, with less personal financial commitment are best placed to weather the storm and would, in any event, provide an attractive prospect to the merger brokers and potential employers in the corporate sector. Again, much would depend on the portability of an individual’s skills and experience.

For different reasons, the ‘owners’ in the form of sole traders and partners, may have reached the autumn of their legal professional careers, be self-made, unwilling to take on the challenge of yet another raft of reforms and simply choose retirement as a means of survival.

The same protections cannot be afforded those who have reached senior status, those perhaps aged between the ages of 30 and 50 , with between five and ten years Post Qualification Experience (PQE) and who may also have the heavy responsibility of children and mortgages. To prospective employers within the legal profession these individuals appear not only less attractive from a financial standpoint but are slower to adapt to change or to new management structures.

Indeed, the unthinkable is already upon us. A long-established South Wales firm recently shed a dozen lawyers from its legal aid component. While a number of senior practitioners, across our region, are fast considering their futures in fear of further redundancies or, far more likely, being left behind by the partners of a merged or subsumed practice.

Frankly it is inconceivable that every employee, whether lawyer or support staff subject to a merger situation, will be found fresh employment under these circumstances.

However there is very definite light at the end of what might currently appear to be a long and very dark tunnel and this is why, I believe, this to be the case.

Throughout the course of a lawyer’s development, from trainee to senior management level, a number of skills are both taught and acquired. Since the abandonment of the articled clerk ‘apprenticeship’ in favour of the trainee solicitor contract, professional skills’ training has become a compulsory part of the regime. This means that at the pre-qualification stages all would-be lawyers must demonstrate not only a strong knowledge of ‘black-letter’ law but also the requisite skills involved in dealing with clients, accounts and staffing issues.

This, at its very least, involves tuition in several key areas: negotiating, interviewing and advising; advocacy and public speaking; letter and document drafting; research and problem solving and workload management. The list is not exhaustive. More significantly, lawyers are required to hone these skills whilst in practice and do so to varying degrees depending on their chosen area of work.

Whereas the central activity of the lawyer will be of no use outside the profession, many of the skills and attributes listed and acquired during the post qualification period are entirely portable and in most cases, sought after. With one or two minor exceptions members of the legal profession enjoy huge exposure to people, clients and members of the general public. Their role is essentially that of problem-solver more likely involving abilities beyond their basic knowledge of law.

In addition, modern law firms tend to appoint practice managers as administrators to take responsibility for HR, health and safety, premises, equipment and fittings.
The question, therefore, is how best can these confident, highly-trained and well-motivated workers transfer from one area of employment to another?

Apart from ‘second career’ lawyers, those having experienced other occupations or professions, the majority feel understandably cocooned within the legal profession. This is partly because so much time and money has been invested into what was previously considered a secure career path and partly due to ignorance.

There is a widely held misconception among legal professionals that, as lawyers, the only employment available is that which involves practising law. The first hurdle therefore is to dismantle this belief through education and awareness.

The recruitment industry is perfectly placed to help those requiring assistance by identify alternative opportunities based on their skills’ base as opposed to their experience.

New Directions Professional Limited, through a series of awareness days, intends to bring together different aspects of the legal profession, solicitors, barristers, paralegals and support staff, along with representatives from local government, higher education, HR consultancies and management recruitment specialists.

The primary objective is to explode the myth and convince the professional that life exists outside the legal profession. Once these barriers are dismantled, individuals and recruitment consultants can work together to widen awareness and explore the options.

John Andrews, Director of Operations with New Directions Holdings Limited a successful and fast rising recruitment company, is eminently qualified to speak on the subject. He is a second career lawyer and worked for over 10 years within the publicly funded sector of the legal profession. He spent the last two years in the profession as practice manager within a comparatively large legal aid practice before seeing Carter’s ‘writing on the wall’ and switching professions to join New Directions Holdings.

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