Being clear about your professional values

There is something special about being a solicitor. It’s about having the technical knowledge, of course, but it’s much more than that. An ethical approach, good client care, management skills, avoiding conflicts, and, overall, being professional. All this goes without saying and is neatly contained in the SRA’s ten principles. Yet, other than when a solicitor has broken the rules, it can be difficult to say exactly how this translates in day-to-day practice. 

This was not necessarily an issue when solicitors were virtually the only legal professionals in the sector. These assumptions were unchallenged. Not so now that the market has opened, first with licensed conveyancers, now with accountants and legal executives about to gain the right to undertake conveyancing and probate. Solicitors need to give serious thinking to what makes them different from other legal professionals who can claim they uphold similar values and standards, undergo recognised training, and are formally regulated.

More and more, being a solicitor will involve having the right business and management skills, but it should not be just about that. Knowledge of the law and an ability to understand and deal with complex circumstances should still feature prominently in the make-up of a solicitor, whether we think about large-scale commercial transactions or sophisticated wealth management arrangements for private clients. It’s the difference between routine cases and complex ones – most estate planning lawyers will be familiar with the case of the client enquiring about a ‘simple’ will, only to find out, through asking the right questions, that the situation is far from straightforward. It’s not that legal executives and other legal professionals do not play important roles, but these are different.

The issue is not only about individual solicitors, it’s also about solicitors firms. These days, however old-fashioned you think your clients are, you cannot afford not to be approachable – the over-60s, for instance, are some of the keenest online users. It’s about service quality levels and engaging with clients on terms that will make them feel confident about your ability to understand their problem from their perspective and speak the same language.

Only then will solicitors be truly able to compete – and justify higher fees. It won’t mean a return to the good old days but it will be a key step in allowing solicitors to retain their market share as a profession.  It means something now not just because of the overall economic and professional environment but also because Paul Philip, the SRA’s new chief executive, is keen to establish his organisation as the regulator of choice. Philip comes from the General Medical Council, so if you wanted to get a feel for how the SRA might look like in five years, you could do worse than see how doctors are regulated. For once, solicitors and the SRA may have a clear shared interest, and it might be worth engaging in return.