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It’s good to talk

16 June 2011 / Joe Reevy
Issue: 7470 / Categories: Features , Profession , Marketing
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Concerned about the future of legal services? Talk to your accountant, suggests Joe Reevy

Concerned about the future of legal services? Talk to your accountant, suggests Joe Reevy
A couple of things are beginning to annoy me about the debate about the future of legal services.
The first is that the way the debate is being presented is that there is one of two possible futures for law firms. One of these is to “brand build” and the other is no future at all: an unavoidable, slow, painful demise for firms that don’t take certain actions. I just don’t believe that the future for law firms is anywhere near as black and white as it is being portrayed.

The second annoyance is the old chestnut that services are to be commoditised and that the inevitable result of this will be more work being done on ever lower margins and (here we go again) an unavoidable, slow, painful demise for firms that don’t take certain actions.
These positions have been repeated so often that

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
Is a suspect’s state of mind a ‘fact’ capable of triggering adverse inferences? Writing in NLJ this week, Andrew Smith of Corker Binning examines how R v Leslie reshapes the debate
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
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