Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

Legal services liberalisation has been a phoney war, but I think that ends with todayas news that logistics company Stobart Group is entering the market with the launch of Stobart Barristers. For sections of the bar, it makes the ProcureCo model look like Betamax to the green and yellow giantas VHS.

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Is economics any use? That sounds like the start of a rant/ a joke/ or a quip in an after-dinner speech (all the easier to make as many economies, presumably advised by fine economic minds, struggle to recover and grow).

So let me be more specific. Can a law firmas principle, or even a practice manager, use economics to make a decent business plan? After all, the economy is water we all swim in – its tide and temperature should matter.

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Are firms responding to regulation by over-engineering their compliance systems, instead of simply putting good practice at the heart of the business?

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I was reading one of those booklets that get sent out by indemnity insurers to remind us how to avoid claims. Most of them are very good. They are readable and clear and will not give you too many nightmares. No one likes waking up in the middle of court one day screaming after a bad dream. It upsets the judge.

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Most websites nowadays use acookiesa (as I will explain) and the European Union has passed a law which means we all have to take action. Your clients need to take action, but so do you, as your firm has a website too.

What are cookies? They are tiny files that websites place on visitorsa computers. Cookies are helpful and provide many benefits. For example, they can automatically log a user in next time they visit a website – imagine having to type in your password every time otherwise.

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In fact, limited liability partnerships (LLPs) have been with us for just over 11 years since their introduction in April 2001. Although it was possible to operate a law firm as a limited company prior to 2001, an LLP has been viewed as a more obvious alternative to a traditional partnership, not least because of its tax transparency. After a slow uptake in the legal profession, LLPs have become a common structure for law firms of a certain size.

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Regular blog readers may recall the relative who needed a lasting power of attorney, several months ago and was confused by the way prices were quoted. At the time of her initial enquiry, she also enquired about changing the way their property was held, amending their wills and advice regarding care homes fees.

Well nine months on, the lasting power of attorney is finally in place. Has the solicitor called to see if everything was to her satisfaction? And, would she like to come in to sort out those other matters? Of course, if he had I would not be writing this article.

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As the legal market expands – as all markets do when deregulation is applied – who will be benefiting from this growth?

Predictions are that the numbers of solicitors will decline – but, as the legal sector grows, why should this be? Fundamentally, we have too many solicitorsa practices serving a growing but changing market.

At a basic level we have 9,000 firms with five partners or less with the average age of equity owners fast approaching sixty years.

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I have heard it said that judges cannot get involved in pro bono work. On the contrary, I can think of many and various ways in which judges might get involved. And, in fact, a good number are already doing so.

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This week in a gap between seeing clients I went to buy a light bulb for my car. I had noticed I had not been very bright (if you see what I mean). It is the sort of thing you usually never get around to sort out. Buying a new one is complicated by having to know exactly what year your car was made; if not the month, and the precise model, and having bought the right thing it is virtually impossible to fit unless you have eyes on stalks and at least three multi-jointed arms.

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Two things have occurred that need your attention. The first alternative business structure (ABS) firms have been announced and QualitySolicitorsa new TV promotional campaign has started. Iam sure there will be a fierce debate about the pros and cons of QS’ approach to promoting legal services; however given the Co-operative is now an ABS offering asolicitorsa services, this will be somewhat academic. Whatever your opinion is, the facts are that both these businesses are starting a high-profile market entry strategy aimed at generating a brand value that will bring the work to them.

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So where are we after six months of operating under outcomes-focused regulation (OFR)? Well the world hasnat ended, the profession hasnat imploded and we havenat seen any public floggings. We have of course seen some high-profile criminal charges against individuals caught appropriating funds from their firms which hasnat done the profession any favours but, on the whole, everyone appears to have coped reasonably well so far. Well, perhaps not everyone.

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I am impressed by the number of people who fondly (I think fondly is the correct word) remember Green forms. I wonder how many of you recall five-pound fixed fees. It had a certain ring to it. If your client was not eligible to sign the Green form then you’d offer them this fee. The idea was to get people into the office, give them some advice and either sign them up if it was something worthwhile or take five pounds off them, open the door and wish them good day.

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Discussion continues on the meaning of outcomes-focused regulation, the implementation of the now not-so-new Handbook and the attitude of the SRA to its enforcement.

Much of this concerns the retrospective justification of procedures and, in the context of entity-based regulation, whether a breach that is not demonstrated to a standard to justify disciplinary procedures against any individual, may nonetheless support action against the firm.

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The alifetime allowancea is the maximum amount of value that you can accrue within your pension schemes without suffering an additional tax charge on extraction. The lifetime allowance for a partneras pension pot from all pension sources (excluding state pensions) is currently APS1.8m, but this is being reduced to APS1.5m on 6 April 2012.

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Working at the National Pro Bono Centre I get to observe a large portion of the organised pro bono activities undertaken by members of the legal profession. One of the first things that struck me when I started working as a caseworker at LawWorks was the scale of the volunteer work done by lawyers. It seemed so impressive. But I was unwilling to accept that these lawyers did it just out of the goodness of their hearts. I thought, surely thereas something in it for them?

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In a legal world flush with lies, damned lies and frightening statistics in relation to alawyer shellinga (my crude terminology for expulsion and even possible extinction of our treasured profession and the comfortable roles we once enjoyed) I reckon we can find great wisdom in a variety of books beyond the standard atechnical lawa tomes to help us become better lawyers, managers or awhateversa in this wonderful industry.

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This morning I bought my newspaper from a branch of a national chain of newsagents. As has been well reported, other branches sometimes include a stall run by lawyers whose firm has joined a national franchise. It is one of the supposedly big scary initiatives that will enable this franchise, or big-brand alternative business structures to roll all before them, crushing other consumer-facing firms like a juggernaut.

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To describe the current legal landscape as interesting would be a real understatement. You could say that a perfect storm is brewing. A variety of different factors mean that the legal sector is undergoing significant change and firms of all sizes need to rise to the challenges they are facing. Amongst this apparent maelstrom there are not only real threats but undoubtedly opportunities too.

Not surprisingly, the stories that have made the biggest headlines at the start of this year relate to the long-awaited advent of alternative business structures in the Legal Services Act.

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Just over two years ago my colleague Rachel Rothwell, now editor of Litigation Funding magazine, wrote a blog with the same title as this one.

Rothwell shopped around a bit, asked questions about referral fees, and eventually settled on a licensed conveyancer above a couple of more expensive solicitors. She had a fairly poor experience as a client, but the deal got done. A fair number of comments were along the lines of awell, what do you expect?a.

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