‘Warm and fluffy’ big brands are no match for the powerful ethical traditions of the ‘solicitor’ brand, Law Society deputy vice president Nick Fluck told the conference.

Fluck (pictured) said the profession will ‘continue to thrive’ if it works together to design and deliver legal services fit for the era of alternative business structures (ABS) and other new business models.

He said that since ABSs employ solicitors, the Law Society must represent them and cannot give preferential treatment. ‘ABSs are a product of government. We can’t keep everyone happy, but we must run with them,’ he said. Fluck urged the SPG to join the Law Society’s new Small Firms Division, which launches in November for sole practitioners and two- to four-partner firms. ‘We hope the SPG will come in-house,’ he said. ‘The division would lose integrity without you.’

  • Birmingham practitioner Lubna Shuja became the new SPG chair on the final day of the conference, taking over from Kent practitioner Hilary Underwood.