Big bang two

Regulation. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. Or can you? We’ll soon find out if the SRA’s proposal to deregulate unreserved work goes ahead.

There’s an argument that this change would make the legal market enormously more competitive, drive down overheads and prices, and generally achieve what the Legal Services Act didn’t (LSA Part Two, if you wanted to give it a bad movie title). Some SME firms are already in a position to take advantage of the deregulation, while others will be forced to innovate – or wither on the vine.

The other argument is that deregulating unreserved work could send legal the way of the 2007 financial industry. Will driving up competition mean all that much if consumers aren’t protected or they stop trusting firms? See what SME legal leaders had to say about it in this month’s feature on p28.

REGULATION EXPLOSION

The Legal Services Act, nearly a decade old now, shifted the legal sector’s regulatory landscape enormously – introducing new regulators, alternative business structures and other extensive changes. But the LSA might just have been the beginning of radical regulatory disruption. Noises of a single regulator, deregulation of unreserved work and pricing transparency requirements have emerged – and the question on SME legal leaders’ minds is: “Will these changes benefit my business or mean the end of the world as we know it?” The short answer is: no one knows for sure – and there are compelling arguments on both sides.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: DUNCAN MACINTOSH

I’ve always liked motorcycles. I first rode a bike (a bright yellow Vespa scooter, in fact) at university in wet, cold Glasgow – though I was born and raised in India so I’m more accustomed to warm weather. I was a law student but got completely fed up with studying, and moved to America for a season to play cricket for the Seattle Cricket Club. While there, I was lent a Honda motorcycle by a club member and rode it around Washington and Oregon – in the cities, over mountain roads, through national parks, up Mount Rainier and Mount Hood. It was an amazing experience.

RECIPE FOR RECOERY

Are SME firms prepared for disaster? In the past, they mainly had to contend with fire or flood, but in an increasingly digital world there are more catastrophes waiting to strike than ever – and firms may not be as prepared as they think. Victor van der Poel, director at Accesspoint Technologies, says there are numerous disasters that could cause businesses to cease operations for hours, days or even weeks – but perhaps the most common and damaging are tech failures.

CASH CAPABLE

Dealing with high-volume, low-value transactions – where firms take significant risk for a small reward – it’s essential to remove human error where possible. Groupit’s reconciliation software from Aurum Solutions reduces risks and gives Dorchester-based BPL Solicitors the consistency it needs to do business effectively.