Legal Act comes into force

The Legal Services Act has now come into force and law firms are predicting that many high street legal practices could go under as a result.

Blackpool’s leading law firm Blackhurst Budd LLP has described the Act as a “big bang moment” for English law, which could be a huge blow to smaller legal firms, and limit access to justice for the public.

UK law firms have been governed by rigid rules for hundred of years, but the new Act aims to open up the system. This will enable law firms to be owned by or become part of multinational companies, and large brand names such as the big supermarkets and building societies will be able to offer their own legal services.

Warren Spencer, Managing Partner of Blackhurst Budd said: “The Legal Services Act has been looming on the horizon for the last few years and many firms fear with this now coming into effect, they could end up being cut out of the market by the big players with their huge marketing budgets."

“At Blackhurst Budd we have been preparing for the Act, making a series of mergers to make us into a far bigger entity that can compete successfully with the big high street chains that look set to come into the market. We aim to compete by offering a local, personalised service, rather than the faceless, conveyor belt processes offered by the multinationals. We believe that our clients want to deal with qualified professionals with local knowledge and experience.”

Blackhurst Budd warns that the Act will not only lead to many traditional law firms going under it will also result in new companies coming into the sector, who provide poor quality legal advice and use staff who aren’t fully trained.

Mr Spencer said: “The Legal Services Act allows organisations to offer legal services outside the normal business structure of a law firm. This could lead to big organisations keeping costs low by using cheap advisers trained in certain legal scenarios rather than fully trained solicitors. This means the public could be sold the wrong products or given poor advice which doesn’t fulfill their needs.”

He added: “Legal advice isn’t just another business service. We are talking about delivering justice and advising clients on things which can affect their whole lives, from the homes they purchase, to cases they are pursuing, to their lifetime planning. Clients should have only the best quality advice from a fully trained legal professional.”

Other concerns high street firms have over the Act, are the fact that big businesses offering legal services could focus on their own concerns and profit. Warren said: “Allowing big businesses to intervene in the legal process is very worrying. They may not be regulated in the same way as Solicitors, who are regulated by The law society. The question is, will such business give unbiased advice on issues close to their own business? It’s vital that we protect unbiased justice in the UK.”