Part of my holiday reading involved revisiting some of the leading texts on quality service – how to understand it, achieve it and measure it. Oddly enough, there wasn’t much that emanated from the UK legal market. What does ‘the customer journey’ mean to your average lawyer? I’d like to think that most, if pressed, wouldn’t simply say that it’s how the client manages to get to his office for a meeting. But I suspect that very few have more than a passing acquaintance with the concepts and practices that have been proven to succeed in a service environment.

The Law Society’s submission to the Ministry of Justice’s legal services review is the culmination of four years of frustration in dealing with its independent (but not totally independent) regulatory arm – as is the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s own submission, calling for structural independence on top of the operational independence it currently has. It is certainly a bold move by the Law Society. For bold, I really mean pretty jaw-dropping.

The Legal Services Act is here, outcomes-focused regulation is in place, and alternative business structures are trading. These sideshows are over and it’s time to concentrate on having a legal business that is profitable and viable on a sustainable basis over the next several years.

This year’s professional indemmity insurance (PII) renewal season is now upon us. Faced with LASPO, there is an obvious sense that some underwriters are approaching this season’s renewal with more caution than previous years. With the swathe of changes within the personal injury sector and the aftermath of Atteys and Blakemores earlier this year, against the backdrop of a legal market that is being challenged in all areas, it is not surprising that underwriters are expressing caution.

… or should that be beauty? The beholder wants your service to be a thing of beauty, but above all the beholder (your client) wants ‘value’ for your advice and a solution to their issue. Now a question. Do you think that your hourly billing rate provides value to your client? Sit for a moment on the other side of the desk and ask yourself, ‘How happy would I be personally to buy a service or a product that has an open-ended cost?’ I suggest the answer is ‘not very happy’.