In 20 years time, the landscape for law firms will look very different. There could be as many as two thirds fewer law firms and large providers – people like Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda – will be offering off-the-shelf legal services that currently require the specific expertise of a law firm.

During the recession, large numbers of lawyers have been made redundant. This is highly unusual as firms normally do what they can to hold on to their talent. So those making changes in staffing must be looking to industry changes in the future.

Those streamlining now are probably the most forward-thinking firms and will be those best equipped to deal with the changes ahead, rather than job losses being a reaction to falling business.

These changes have been telegraphed for some time and yet many firms have still done nothing about them. And it may be too late now.

There are a number of legislation changes coming through. Much of the detail has still to be finalised but it will have the effect of making it easier for providers outside of the legal sector to offer legal services. This is similar to the revolution we have seen in the sale of financial and insurance services over the last 20 years which has completely changed the landscape in those sectors. How often do you see an insurance broker on a high street these days?

You can now go into Tesco and pick up a leaflet to buy all manner of professional services, from pet insurance to child trust funds. In future, a number of legal services will be added to that. This is why some people refer to the changes as Tesco’s Law – despite the fact Tesco has not specifically suggested it will be moving into offering legal services.

The larger law firms which specialise in commercial and corporate cases will be left relatively untouched. However, the vast majority of medium and smaller firms that offer a range of standard legal services will be hit. They do not have the management skills to back up the legal expertise and compete in an open marketplace. Neither do they have the money to invest in marketing.

This could lead to up to 70 per cent of law firms disappearing, based on the impact of past similar changes in the financial and insurance sectors.

Firms need to be buying in expertise to help with things like business management and marketing rather than trying to do everything themselves. They should be offering a specialism and having the hard conversations with their accountants.

And of course, we should all continue to strive for second-to-none customer care, something that perhaps is seen as lacking in your average, traditional law firm.

Andrew Woolley
Managing Partner
(email Andrew your views on this topic – andrew.woolley@family-lawfirm.co.uk)

Chartered Accountant Vincenzo has worked in the industry for 12 years after graduating with a Masters degree in business and economics. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has been self-employed offering expert tax planning advice under the banner of Certex since last year. Based in Cornwall, he is able to work his business around clients’ needs.

“I wanted to focus my accountancy practice on providing tax planning and advice for individuals and businesses,” said Vincenzo.

“Tax planning is about making informed decisions regarding the most effective option from a tax point of view.

“Relating to divorce, this most commonly falls under one of four categories: tax implications of settlements and transfer of assets, valuation of assets of a spouse, assessing the spouse’s income and, increasingly, tax implications for those couples where one of the partners is not domiciled in the UK.

“The main thing to remember in tax issues is that you are never given anything unless you are aware of it and ask for it. Getting advice from a specialist in taxation is essential because things move so fast and legislation changes constantly.

“Personally, I find this area of practice fascinating because of this aspect and its complexity.”

Vincenzo can be reached on 01326 218306 or on email at vrubino@certax.co.uk

Cohabiting law “bad for women”

New rules to give cohabiting couples the same rights as those who get married “retard the emancipation of women” and degrade relationships, according to the chairman of the Bar Standards Board.

Last month the Law Commission controversially proposed that unmarried couples who live together for two years should be automatically entitled to at least half of their partner’s estate if they died without leaving a will.

However, Baroness Deech said creating a cohabitation law “would be a windfall for lawyers but for no one else except the gold digger".

“It would be bad for Bridget Jones; bad for commitment, stability and children; and a breach of the right to private life and the freedom to marry or not,” she said.

“Cohabitation law retards the emancipation of women, degrades the relationship, takes away choice, is too expensive and would extend an already unsatisfactory maintenance law for married couples to another large category,” she added.

In Britain, around 14 per cent of couples - two million - are now cohabiting, compared with nine per cent a decade ago, while 13 per cent of children live with parents who are not married.

Andrew Woolley, managing partner with Woolley & Co, agreed that the idea would not be the preferred option.

“I begin to wonder if all the Law Commission members are unmarried but live together? They certainly rarely sort out rights on divorce but often pontificate about the rights of people cohabiting,” said Andrew.

Wife in £400m divorce downsizes after eviction

A wife at the centre of a £400 million divorce battle has been evicted from her £8,666-a-month rented home after her estranged husband failed to pay the bill.

Michelle Young, 45, has been forced to downsize to a three-bedroom property in St John's Wood which costs less than half as much, according to the Evening Standard.

The pair split in 2006 after 11 years of marriage and are locked in a High Court divorce battle over her husband John's apparently missing fortune

Mr Young, 47, was a "fixer" to the super-rich and the family once enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, based in a £19 million property. Mr Young insists he is now £28.6 million in debt and cannot pay his wife's demands.

But he has been threatened with six months' jail for contempt of court for failing to disclose documents related to his wealth.

Woolley & Co do come across cases where one party or the other tries to hide assets from the other side. This is ill-advised. Invariably it means the case drags on and potentially a Judge will look unfavourably on such behaviour.

Soaps lead to India divorce

An Indian woman has been granted a divorce on the grounds that her husband was cruel to stop her watching soap operas.

The judge in Mumbai last month ruled that "not allowing the spouse to watch TV serials amounted to cruelty" and was grounds for divorce.

The couple had been married for eight years and have a daughter but began fighting in 2005, the court heard.

Among other complaints, the woman said her husband had insulted her, refused to have sex with her and spat at her.

The couple's divorce came through in August, but details only emerged when the husband's appeal was heard in the Mumbai High Court.

You might be surprised to realise that similar grounds could actually be used to obtain a divorce in England – citing such factors as unreasonable behaviour, the most common of the grounds for divorce.

Family lawfirm goes global

Family law specialist Alison, currently based in Redditch, Worcestershire, is to move in early January 2010 to Egypt where she already has close links, and expand her expat case load.

She will continue to work for Woolley & Co, further demonstrating that the business model employed by the firm – top level lawyers working from home bases and harnessing the latest technology to best serve clients rather than being tied to high street offices – can work wherever the lawyer is based.

Alison can be contacted as normal at Alison.hill@family-lawfirm.co.uk

Videos enhance Woolley website

A series of short videos have been filmed to add to the Woolley & Co website to further enhance the firm’s presence on the internet.

Pioneering the use of a website in the legal sector to attract new clients and speed the way business is done, lawyers got together in early December to film a number of scenes highlighting the work they do and debating some topical issues. One of the videos even provides advice on how to save money on a divorce.

The videos can be viewed soon at online on the family lawfirm website and on You Tube.