Having recently been involved in property transactions in different parts of England and Wales, I can speak as a consumer of legal services. After attending last week’s Legal Futures‘ conference, I also feel up to speed on the direction technology in general is moving. What strikes me is that some solicitors continue to work in a kind of parallel universe, in which ‘older’ technologies like e-mail and digital scanning have been incorporated into the conveyancing process, but the piecemeal fashion in which it has been brought in makes its acceptance seem grudging.

Managing lawyers is never dull. And managing change within a law firm is as far from dull as it gets. Balancing the conflicting drivers and aspirations of professionals, as change is being brought about, can take the Wisdom of Solomon and the deftness of a music-hall plate-twirler.

There is an increasingly strong belief that of the 200 or so mid-tier law firms, only 50 or so may survive in the short to medium term. The work of our own recovery specialists has helped us understand the warning signs of firms which – if they do not mend their ways – may well be one of the 150 or so predicted failures in the top 200. To put it another way, if you wish to be in the successful 50, you need to avoid these pitfalls.

In a guest blog, Julie Brannan, director of education and training at the Solicitors Regulation Authority, explains the rationale for the move from hours-based CPD to a system of ‘continuing competence’ that puts individuals and firms in the driving seat.

The practice of law firms paying a claims management company or insurer to have a case referred to them was ugly, drove unethical behaviours and placed commerciality above the rights and needs of injured people. It was rightly banned in April 2013.