Improving the Law Society’s relationship with the in-house sector and ensuring the success of the Conveyancing Quality Scheme will be two key areas of focus for the Society’s new president in the year ahead, he told the Gazette this week.

John Wotton (pictured), who takes over from Linda Lee as president today, said it is ‘essential’ that the Society ‘reaches out to all sections of the profession’.

He said he wants to see ‘greater dialogue and engagement’ with some parts of the profession, with the growing in-house sector a good example.

‘As I travel around the country I will be making a point of meeting groups of in-house counsel,’ he said.

Wotton, who has spent his entire career at magic circle firm Allen & Overy and is now a consultant in its competition practice, added that he would be seeking to ‘strengthen and deepen’ what is already a ‘fantastic level’ of engagement from City firms.

Chancery Lane will continue to press for changes to EU proposals for a European contract law and for the opening up of new international markets, particularly in India, Brazil and Indonesia, he said.

Wotton noted that the conveyancing sector is under particular pressure due to the combined effect of imminent competition from alternative business structures, high insurance costs and low transaction volumes.

He said the Society’s CQS scheme will support firms by providing a ‘real quality mark’ on which the public and lenders can rely.

Wotton conceded that while 1,000 firms have applied for the scheme since it launched in January, there is ‘considerable room for growth’.

He said: ‘Clearly we need to demonstrate that [CQS] is of value to firms… I am going to take a very close interest in that project.’

The new president acknowledged that while the Legal Services Act re­forms will create opportunities for firms to structure themselves more flexibly, there is also the ‘threat’ of market disruption.

‘A profession which is so fragmented – with 11,500 businesses – is bound to suffer a significant impact if several large corporations enter the market in a big way,’ he predicted.

Wotton said the Society will support firms by informing them of their options and preparing them for the change, and ensuring that where firms do exit the market, this happens in an ‘orderly way’ that does not pose a risk to clients.

He said Chancery Lane is particularly keen to support firm owners, who may be ‘in a difficult position’ because of the high costs of closing a practice.

Wotton stressed that the Society’s campaign to influence government reforms of legal aid and civil costs would also remain ‘central to our work this year’.

The president, who attended a direct-grant school, added that he will use his time in office to improve social mobility within the profession. He said that while much valuable work has been done in other areas of diversity, more focus is needed on ensuring fair access to the profession regardless of social background.

Wotton added that the combination of his own City and regulatory expertise, the legal aid and entrepreneurial credentials of vice-president Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, and the high-street perspective of deputy vice-president Nick Fluck were a ‘serendipitous’ combination for the leadership team in the year ahead.