Now that I am in the last two months of my presidency, I have started to look forward to returning to my own firm in Surrey and to resume the life that I put on hold three years ago – that of a regular high street solicitor.

For me, high street firms form the bedrock of this country’s legal success. This might seem a curious statement given the enormous contribution of the large firms to the UK economy (1% of GDP at the last count), but it is rarely mentioned that virtually all of the large regional firms, specialist firms and even some of the magic circle started as small high street firms serving a local community.

Over the course of my presidency I have had the good fortune to visit almost every part of England and Wales and I have seen first hand the invaluable role that high street solicitors play, not only in the provision of legal services, but also within the communities that they serve. In many cases, a ‘high street’ solicitor is just that – situated on the main thoroughfare, quite literally in the centre of town. Many of these firms have been providing the highest level of legal service to private individuals and local businesses for a number of years, and in some cases for generations.

In the past, whenever the previous lord chancellor or the current chairman of the Legal Services Board have stated that one of the main purposes behind the Legal Services Act was to place the consumer (once, more properly known as the client) at the heart of the provision of legal services, it has raised a wry smile on my part. This is hardly a new concept for the high street solicitor. Many thousands of firms across England and Wales have been putting their clients first for many years, and in some cases for centuries.

Indeed, the fact that there are high street firms in virtually every town in England and Wales which have been doing business locally for so long is the best possible testament to the fact that they have put their clients front and centre. Many firms have acted for businesses from start-up to multi-million pound success, just as they have acted in one way or another for generations of families through times both bad and good. It is only by ‘putting them first’ that firms have been able to engender the trust and loyalty from their clients which keeps them in business.

There does come a point when loyalty is not enough of course, especially in these current times. There are considerable challenges ahead for all high street firms as a consequence of the recession, the spectre of the introduction of alternative business structures and the changing nature of public demand for the delivery of legal services. The internet too has had a huge effect, broadening potential clients’ horizons beyond the services offered by firms in their immediate ‘catchment area’.

Above all, firms can no longer assume that potential new or even existing clients understand and appreciate the value of the work that solicitors offer on their behalf. High street solicitors have always offered great value, but in most cases it has formed such an integral part of their psyche that they have performed the task almost instinctively and certainly without broadcasting the fact. The modest manner with which many solicitors have promoted themselves is highly commendable and reflects well on them as individuals, but it is wholly unsuited to the reality of the new legal market.

We should not be afraid of being vocal about the virtues of our services - indeed, we have a very good story to tell. There are many less worthy organisations that seek to compete with solicitors and which never shy from promoting their wares in a fashion greatly disproportionate to the value of their work.

We all need to be much more active in promoting our value because it is difficult for clients to appreciate that which they cannot easily see – which, I am afraid to say, is often the nature of our lot. This is doubly true in the current material age where, as Oscar Wilde said, many know ‘the price of everything and the value of nothing’. I hope that firms and local law societies across the country will accept this challenge and proclaim the value of solicitors' services as widely as possible.

The good news is that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the high street’s death are greatly exaggerated. From the many conversations that I have shared on my travels, I am certain that the vast majority of firms are both adaptable to change and amenable to taking the necessary steps to cope with the evolution of both society and legal services.

In many cases, plans for businesses to move with the times are already well advanced. My own firm is no exception, and while I will be sad to reach the end of my term, I am very much looking forward to returning to the day-to-day work of the high street solicitor.

Paul Marsh is president of the Law Society