Solicitor advocates, unite

At times Lord Judge sounded more like an amateur dramatic society tutor sharing a few tricks with wannabe stage stars.

'Your voice is your weapon,' he said, 'If you can see you are boring the Lord Chief Justice, lower your voice, speak softly.' And as, outside, a police car shot up Chancery Lane with its siren blaring he paused '“ 'let the moment pass'.

A few moments earlier, he had reminisced about his early days as a rookie barrister sent around the criminal courts in the outer reaches of England '“ Lincolnshire '“ and being repeatedly defeated by talented solicitor advocates. The chief was right on cue: let's bury the old divisions and work together on common advocacy standards. The crowd loved him. It may not have been the original plan but in a few delightful turns of phrase Lord Judge had become the main act at the evening marking the launch of the Law Society's advocacy section.

The new initiative stands at the confluence of several currents that have been flowing in the same direction for a while and are now coming together. Who can forget Judge Gledhill's astonishing outburst against some solicitor advocates three years ago, or the remarks in 2008 by Bar chairman Peter Lodder QC that some solicitor advocates were 'truly appalling'?

But more important structural developments backstage explain the rise of the solicitor advocate. The Legal Services Commission gave the initial push with its best-skills-for-money approach to the commissioning of criminal advocacy services. Further pressure on the legal aid budget and the increase in crime solicitors undertaking their own advocacy have led to the recent proposals for a quality assurance scheme for advocates. And from this year the Legal Services Act and alternative business structures will provide new opportunities to grow advocacy services in-house, breathing new life into the idea of a fused profession.

Where this leaves Chancery Lane's new advocacy section is unclear. Ostensibly this is another training initiative aimed at England and Wales' 5,200 or so solicitor advocates. For a £100 annual membership they will be entitled to four free webinars and the usual suite of news, updates and networking opportunities to come with such memberships. So far, so unexciting.

But it's obviously much more than that. There is already an interest group for solicitor advocates, the very successful and vocal Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates. SAHCA was set up in 1994 with the support of the Law Society, which was still the profession's regulator at the time. It was felt the better approach to support solicitor advocates was through an independent organisation.

In the meantime Chancery Lane has been stripped of its regulatory function and the game is a different one. By setting up this new section the Law Society is making a statement; that it is setting itself on a course to reclaim its function as the voice of the profession and its many constituents. As with the Conveyancing Quality Scheme, one wonders why it has taken so long for the society to show visible interest in the issue but at least it is doing something.

SAHCA, which has campaigned so vigorously to defend the interests of solicitor advocates, could be mightily peeved that the society should pull the blanket over to its side. There were talks of absorbing SAHCA under the new section but SAHCA has decided to remain independent. And that's no bad thing. The association has shown consistency and steadfastness in its campaigning. It shouldn't now be exposed to the changes in moods, priorities and allegiances within the Law Society. All being well the two will be able to work together but Chancery Lane needs to do more than offer a clutch of free webinars if it is to convince its constituents that this isn't just a token gesture towards the growing number of solicitor advocates. Particularly if it is planning on bagging half a million pounds in the process.