In Council - Speaking Out

Adele Pulisciano was elected as the TSG's Council Member in July 2005. She represents both students and trainees on the Law Society Council.

For many years, the TSG lobbied the Law Society to allocate a seat on the Law Society’s Council to students and trainee solicitors.

Following an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Law Society Council in 2001 and a postal ballot of the entire profession, the provision of such a Council seat was eventually granted.

Until such time, the only way for students or trainees to influence Law Society policy was via both the TSG and the Law Society Training Committee that governs the standards for LPC students and trainees and upon which the TSG’s Chair sits.

In an ever-changing legal world it was believed to be essential to have a voice on Council to enable the TSG to influence Law Society policy, including the wider issues that affect day to day concerns.

Adele has pledged to update these pages personally following Council meetings - keep checking back to find out waht's new.

Report from Council - 28 February 2007

Key Issues effecting TSG

Minimum Salary

There has been no confirmation as to results of the minimum salary consultation.  It was noted in the chief executives report that the TSG has submitted its response to the Solicitors Regulation Authority which can be viewed on this website.

Legal Aid Reforms

The legal aid commission will shortly publish the final version of its Unified Legal Aid Contract. It proposes to introduce it to the civil legal aid sector in April 2007 and to the criminal legal aid sector in April 2008. The contract proposes wide scale fixed fees. Many firms do not stand to profit from the proposals or cannot manage the unacceptable uncertainty it creates for practitioners and so are pulling out of the legal aid sector.

The Law Society’s legal advisers have proposed amendments to the terms of the contract to make it fair however it remains to be seen whether the government will incorporate such amendments so as to make it equitable.

Council urged that in the meantime the Law Society should take steps to urge practitioners not to sign the contract in its current form. It was also proposed that the Law Society should advise legal aid practitioners to consider practicing in other fields and that accordingly the Law Society should call upon the resources available to it in the education and training sector to provide a service to legal aid practitioners making the transition into other areas of the law. It was felt that this would send a clear message to government as to the likely implications of its proposals.

Equality and Diversity and Legal Aid Reforms

It was felt by some council members that the impact of the government’s legal aid reforms are likely to result in two thirds of legal aid practitioners  being forced to cease practising. The potential effects on the equality and diversity landscape of the profession were noted.  Proportion of trainees and ethnic minorities are based at legal aid firms and compound the problem of training contracts.

Character and Suitability

The Solicitors Regulation Authority published a consultation paper in February of this year on the character and suitability guidelines for admission as a solicitor. This consultation is available at the law society website www.lawsociety.com. The TSG will submit a response in due course.

What was on the Council Agenda December 2006?

We are nearing the end of an age where the Law Society Council existed to regulate the profession as well as represent it. Following the review by David Clementi earlier this year, the Council took the decision to delegate its regulatory powers to a separate independent regulatory body.  For now, the Council will be the primary consultee of that regulatory arm but in the main it is left with the refocused role of purely representing.

Its your Law Society

In light of the new arrangements for the Law Society, there is opportunity for the profession to have a re-think. A re-think about what it wants from a professional representative body, what it needs from such a body, how it would like these things delivered and at what price.

You will be provided with the opportunity to have your say in a consultation questionnaire to be rolled out to the entire profession early next year. Check back here for a link to the questionnaire.

TSG Helpline

The Law Society Gazette published a feature on 24 November 2005 called “Flushing out bullies” written by Jon Robins. In it, Jon Robins claims to quote directly from a verbatim transcript of one of the telephone calls made to the TSG Helpline (“the Helpline”). The Helpline does not record transcripts of calls made to it by its members and the Helpline regards all calls from its members as highly confidential.

Peter, various members of the TSG executive and I have all written to the editor of the Law Society Gazette (Jonathon Ames) and requested that he correct this factual error in the next edition. The matter was noted in council this December.

Well, whilst we are yet to see any sign of an apology or a correction Jonathon Ames did publish my letter of complaint in the ‘letters to the editor’ page in the 16 December edition.  

 The Training Framework review

There has been a definite ‘shifting down gear’ in the matter of change to our training. Following the professions response and your response to the proposals set out in its third consultation, the Training Framework Review Group has recommended to the Council that change to the training of solicitors be initially focused along only three strands:

1. Make the delivery of the LPC more flexible and allow for individuals with appropriate equivalent qualifications to apply for exemption from relevant parts of the course;
2.  Make the assessment of work-based learning more objective and rigorous than the current training contract “sign off”, whilst allowing learning in different practice contexts to contribute to the qualification requirement; and
3. Introduce an element of centrally set assessments.

What does this mean?

We expect that students will still have to complete an LPC but could be given an exemption from parts of the course where they have prior equivalent qualifications.

There will be increased demands on supervising and  assessing a trainee which will probably come in the shape of mandatory appraisals and planned learning and development.

Centrally set assessments might cover things like financial and business skills and also professional conduct.

When will change happen?

The Training Framework Review Group proposes that any change will be confined initially to the current training regulations and will be incremental.

Before the details of any changes are considered again, these general proposals for taking change forward will be up for early review by the new regulation board next year. We will have to wait to find out what it thinks but in the meantime, if you have any thoughts on the proposed areas for change then please let me know at the contact details below. 

‘Opt-in’

In December 2002, Council decided that every Group should require its membership to join on an application-only basis (Opt-in).  It was put to Council during these December meetings that Opt-in would significantly reduce the income that can be generated from sponsorship or advertising by some of the Groups and that the Opt-in policy should be postponed for review on or after 17 May 2006.

The TSG is one of the largest groups recognised by the Law Society and one of the Groups partly financed by the law society.  If the Law Society eventually decides that it can only afford to financially support its Groups in a way proportionate to the number of  opted-in members of each group, the TSG stands to be one of the most disproportionately affected groups in terms of a ‘Law Society income : real membership’ ratio.

Needless to say, at this meeting Council decided to postpone Opt-in and to review it again in mid May.

Given the very real risk that postponement of Opt-in will be just that, the TSG has wisely decided to begin work on its Opt-in database now so that it is not disaffected by possible Law Society funding cut backs. If you have any ideas on how we can better promote free Opt-in through our group then please let either members of the TSG executive, Peter or myself know.     

If you have any thoughts on any of the matters discussed at Council this December some of which is outlined in this page, or if you would like to discuss anything in relation to the Trainee Solicitors Group (which includes LPC students and Newly qualifieds) and its representation at Council, please e-mail either myself at adelep@talk21.com or Peter Wright at newqual@yahoo.co.uk. 

Solicitors have their say on the future of the Law Society

The Law Society has today launched the biggest ever consultation of the profession to discover what services solicitors really want from their national body.

All solicitors are being urged to participate in the "Have Your Say" consultation over the next three months.  The answers to the questions will help to determine the future shape of the Law Society's non-regulatory work.  

Kevin Martin, Law Society President, says;

"We are in the process of the most significant reforms in the long history of the Law Society.  It is an exciting time as we create a reinvigorated Law Society to represent the interests of solicitors with fresh commitment and focus.  

"We want to create a Law Society which makes a real difference to solicitors in their day to day work.   Our mission is to support solicitors in developing their practices and careers and to be the voice of the profession nationally and internationally.  

"We need to know what solicitors want from their professional body so that we can continue to develop the Law Society of the future.  I urge all solicitors to have their say by completing the online questionnaire at www.haveyoursaylawsociety.org.uk"

A copy of the questionnaire together with an explanatory prospectus has been sent to all solicitors.  The deadline for responses is 21 April 2006. The questionnaire can also be completed online, please visit our website for further details - www.haveyoursaylawsociety.org.uk

Since the start of this year, the Law Society's consumer complaints and regulatory work has been overseen by two new, independent Boards.  The Law Society is also modernising the governance and structure of its representation, law reform and professional services body.

For more information call the Press Office on 020 7320 5884