Tag: Law Society

What future?

I was more than a little depressed reading Mike Semple Piggot’s recent post in Legalweek.com’s Legal Village blog:

Law Society president Marsh talked to me about his views on how the profession would look after the recession – making a strong case in favour of firms weathering the present financial conditions better than many pundits are predicting.

Marsh, who has been through three recessions and says that he saw little difference between them, believes both City and high street firms are better positioned than in the past because of improved management and greater internal resources.

I am sure that Paul Marsh would like us all to be uplifted, and there is always the risk of talking things too far down: but his view is not quite how others see it (including me, and I reckon that I have seen as many recessions as he has). Admittedly it may be dangerous to think that because it is happening in the US it will happen here, but see Bruce MacEwen’s latest post The Human Toll in Adam Smith, Esq. In particular,

And it would be folly to predict anything other than that it will get worse before it gets better.

Batten down the hatches?

Another excellent article, Taking Advantage of a Recession in Kerma Partners Quarterly: a lot of sense and not just about weathering the storm but more how to make the weather.

One further thought is that in the UK the danger is that concentrating on getting through the downturn may mean that we ignore the impending changes in the legal services market. I am not sure that I would have used the expression ‘Big Bang’ (given that some commentors see the beginnings of the current economic crisis in the heady days of City deregulation 22 years ago), but see Peter Williamson’s Rehearsing for the Big Bang in this week’s Law Society Gazette.

And while looking at the Gazette, a stunning lead article Review of Regulation that nails once and for all the myth that we are one profession (for those of us at the coal face, we know we are not).