Paul Marsh
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The benefits of the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme
The last 12 months have been very difficult for conveyancers. They have faced low volumes of transactions caused by ‘mortgage famine’, and consumer anxiety about the economy generally. This has been exacerbated by estate agents’ increasingly aggressive attitude towards referral fees.
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The cost of HIPs
Mr Ockenden, director general of the Association of Home Information Pack Providers, was rather disingenuous in his letter about estate agents ‘overcharging’ for HIPs (see [2009] Gazette, 3 September, 11).
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Great leap forward: survival depends on the challenge of change
This is my final President’s Podium, and while I write it with no little sense of sadness, I do so in the certainty that many in the profession are well placed not only to survive the current downturn, but to flourish in its aftermath.
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High street firms need to proclaim their virtues to survive
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.
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Ethics must be entrenched in a solicitor’s training
When I opened the Law Society’s Leadership Summit in February, I called for a debate on the future of the profession to spring up across the country. I repeated that call a few days later in the Gazette.
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Law Society President on solicitors in the judiciary
‘Yes, I could have been a judge but I never had the Latin, never had the Latin for the judging. I just never had sufficient of it to get through the rigorous judging exams.’
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Helping maintain the SRA’s freedom and independence
It has been a big week for the development of regulatory policy. Last Wednesday the Legal Services Board published a consultation document, asking how best to define and maintain adequate separation of the representative and regulatory arms of approved regulators.
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Post-recession: the state of the legal landscape
One of the advantages of being president of the Law Society is that people generally don’t turn down an invitation to speak to you about their work. I must confess that I exploited this benefit to the full recently when I asked Professor Richard Susskind to drop by at a ...
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Law Society is working hard to fight the recession
January represents the mid-point of the presidential year. As I flew back from my trip to the far east on behalf of the profession last month, I reflected on the events of the first half of my tenure and looked to the priorities of my second six months.
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Committed to helping you through difficult economic times
One issue that all firms are grappling with today is of course the downturn in the economy. While it is impossible to be precise, it is clear that the recession will be deeper and longer than many anticipated and the next 12 months will be very challenging for us all.
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Beyond price
I’m delighted to report that the Law Society’s Excellence Awards were a tremendous success. Old Billingsgate, overlooking the Thames, made for a spectacular venue and Kirsty Wark from BBC2’s Newsnight was a great host. This year saw a record number of entries, and the awards are now widely considered to ...
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Charter clarity
I am writing to clarify an inaccuracy concerning the postal ballot on the new Law Society charter. I want to assure all members that non-solicitors will not become members of the Society. They will be able to buy affiliate status that would give them access to products and services that ...
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The international dimension
Globalisation is the defining characteristic of the profession and must not be obstructed by protectionist impulses, which may re-emerge as the economy declines.
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Distant lands, close friends
Major conferences in the US and Canada showed the importance of exporting legal services.
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Challenging times
The new President of the Law Society looks at what lies ahead for the profession