Law Society’s Gazette, 29 January 1992

Letter to the editor: All change

As we are all aware, the government seems determined to shake up the legal profession. I came across the following notice recently pinned on a staff notice board.

‘We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form into teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganisation; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralisation.’

This was not written by a depressed provincial solicitor in 1992 but by Caius Petronius in AD66! Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Derek Adkinson, Lowestoft

Law Society’s Gazette, 22 January 1992

Calling a solicitor causes old flame jitters

For an average member of the public, telephoning a solicitor is about as enjoyable as contacting an ex-lover and receiving a call from a lawyer is dreaded as much as being rung up by the boss while relaxing at home.

This rather crude but telling analysis comes from a British Telecom-sponsored survey of people’s attitudes to using the telephone generally and contacting professionals specifically.

Even in the modern age of increased client-care awareness, solicitors fared worst of all the professions in the survey carried out for BT by the British Market Research Bureau.

It canvassed the view of 500 adults from across the country who were drawn from a representative social cross-section. Only four of those questioned said they would be pleased to telephone their solicitor.

In the category of ‘nerves’ or ‘lack of confidence in calling’, 2% said they would be confident phoning a solicitor, compared with 3% who would be confident phoning their bank manager and 7% their doctor.

On the other side of the coin, only 1% said hearing from a solicitor gave them any pleasure while the figure was 2% for doctors and bank managers.

So how can solicitors improve their phone manner? Dr Guy Fielding [head of communication studies at Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh, and leader of the survey team] says legal training should include instruction on communication techniques and listening strategies. Lawyers should learn from the medical profession, he says: ‘What makes the difference between a good and bad GP is often not technical knowledge but how they deal with the patient - how well they listen and talk to their patients.’