Legal services
- Posted on September 25, 2012 by Louise RestellThere is nothing like a discussion about consumer complaints to get lawyers’ heckles rising. Argue there is no such thing as an unjustified complaint and you get short shrift. Remind them it was the Law Society’s diabolical complaints’ handling that kicked off legal reform in the first place and you get a glowering look. Mention the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) and you’ll get thrown out of the room.Read more...
- Posted on July 3, 2012 by Louise RestellI was amused to read that at least one legal entrepreneur thinks lawyers are ‘in denial about what customers hate about law firms’. With probably only one exception Ajaz Ahmed, the founder of Freeserve and co-founder of the award-winning Legal365, said last week that ‘there has been a complete and utter lack of any innovation, disruption or new business models’ in the legal profession.Read more...
- Posted on June 27, 2012 by Louise RestellAs you can imagine, calls for non-clients to have the right to complain about lawyers have gone down like a ton of bricks in some quarters. Apparently it will open the door to a flood of vexatious complaints from people unhappy they lost their case or who think their opponent’s lawyer was a bit rude or unpleasant. Worse still, it is being proposed by ‘quangocrats’ who have ‘no idea of the reality of legal practice’.Read more...
- Posted on June 19, 2012 by Louise RestellLawyers, it has to be said, aren’t known to be the most tech savvy of professions. I say this as someone who likes to pretend they know what I am doing but as soon as someone starts talking about Ethernets, malware or RAM my eyes glaze over and I start to think about what to cook for dinner.Read more...
- Posted on June 8, 2012 by Louise RestellConsumers, it seems, still don’t trust lawyers. In fact, depressingly, while consumer satisfaction with the value for money of legal services has risen over the past year, trust in the profession has actually fallen. The 47% it started at wasn’t exactly remarkable, but it’s now only 43%. That may be more than for some professions, notably journalists, politicians and bankers, but it’s way behind doctors (80%) and teachers (68%).Read more...
- Posted on May 8, 2012 by Louise RestellThanks to the typical English bank holiday weather over the weekend I barely ventured out of the house and instead found myself working. Sad but inevitable. It’s also a bit sad that as a ‘consumer champion’ it was only in May 2012 that I came across a report on consumer attitudes towards the purchase of legal services published by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in February 2011.Read more...
- Posted on April 25, 2012 by Louise RestellI wouldn’t want to compare the legal services market to Soviet Russia given how that’s turned out, but that is rather how I felt coming home from the Legal Futures conference on ‘the new frontiers of law’ on Monday. Having said that, there may be some similarities.Read more...
- Posted on April 24, 2012 by Louise RestellThe Legal Futures conference yesterday was refreshing in many respects. Hearing from people who are actually making the future of legal services is such a welcome change from the years I have spent talking about liberalisation of the market to, frankly, unreconstructed Luddites. But, and there is always a but, there was one keynote speaker who reminded me we are certainly not all there yet.Read more...
- Posted on April 5, 2012 by Louise RestellAs if the disappearance of Spring and the return to a distinctly chilly feel wasn’t enough to dampen my spirits, just a cursory glance at the news in the last week has left me feeling a bit depressed: secret courts, government snooping proposals, a 15-year old killing his mother with a hammer, even ‘pastygate’ and the hosepipe ban. There’s not a lot to be cheery about.Read more...
- Posted on April 2, 2012 by Louise RestellI wouldn't describe myself as a social media guru, although if I'm in a roomful of lawyers the chances are I'll know more about the subject than the rest of them combined. This isn't hubris: I know for a fact I was appointed to the management board of a legal charity in large part because none of the other trustees, nor many of the staff, knew their Twitter from their Tumblr. It is, however, a fact I find terribly amusing.Read more...
- Posted on March 21, 2012 by Louise RestellI am instinctively distrustful of insurance companies, despite the fact that a good portion of my monthly income goes into their coffers to keep my car on the road, the roof over my head and, in theory at least, provide me with an income if the worst happens and I can’t work. Hopefully, I will never have to call on my policies, although that only seems to reinforce the feeling that my hard-earned cash is just lining someone else’s pocket.Read more...
- Posted on March 20, 2012 by Louise RestellAs I am not qualified to do anything much, I have never had to worry about continuing professional development (CPD). Nonetheless, I would like to think that I do take some time to ensure I am up to date in the latest developments in whatever it is that I do. Which is obviously good for my clients.Read more...
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