# The Impact of the Recession Upon the Legal Profession



## One (16 Dec 2009)

I know that there is a recession on, and obviously there is not as much conveyancing work available now compared to the boom times. However I was talking to a solicitor last night that is based in a rural practice. The firm that employs that solicitor employed a total of six solicitors for years, and employed those six solicitors until this year. Now the firm only employs two solicitors. 

I was a little shocked by the number of solicitors made redundant there. Is this happening right throughout the legal profession, or is this an isolated unusual case that is not a reflection upon the rest of the profession?


----------



## Latrade (16 Dec 2009)

There was an Irish Times article on this a few weeks ago. Seems it's a pretty wide spread issue across the profession.

However, it's indicative of how many professions were falsely created by the "eggs in one basket" economy of the property boom. While it's sad to see so many jobs go, with just a population of 4 million, you have to wonder how many we actually needed (in all the economies reliant on property) and whether we're just seeing some kind of correction and de-frothing back to a more sustainable level of certain professions.


----------



## Brendan Burgess (16 Dec 2009)

_This is how a solicitor described it to me in an email recently_

I really don't know where to start to be honest, but  what's actually going on in this profession at the moment is galling.  I'm  on Jobseeker's Allowance; my practice and fee income has collapsed; AIB is calling in my overdraft facilities because solicitor's  practices are no longer viewed by credit departments as "viable businesses"; I'm  in danger of losing my home; the Law Society are reporting me to the  Disciplinary Tribunal for not filing an accountant's report, the only reason  being is because I don't have the money to pay an accountant; I face another  prosecution from the Society because I won't be able to purchase run  off insurance cover at a cost of 40,000 Euro in December in compliance with the  legislation.  

So that's my life at the moment, and truly I cannot  wait to get out of this monumental train wreck of a profession.  I'm telling  this story to anyone who contacts me about the profession, as the truth of  what's actually going on must be told.  I cannot stick it a moment longer, and  all young people considering entering it should run for the hills as fast as  possible.

Sorry to have to tell it like it is!!!


----------



## Latrade (16 Dec 2009)

Brendan said:


> I won't be able to purchase run off insurance cover at a cost of 40,000 Euro in December in compliance with the legislation.


 
I heard this too, that insurance costs were extremely expensive that many can't afford them.


----------



## missdaisy (16 Dec 2009)

The recession is having a big impact on the legal profession and not only because a lot of practitioners practiced in the area of conveyancing. 

For example, in the area of family law more and more people are eligible for legal aid which means there are less clients attending private practitioners.  Also it seems people are postponing dealing with their separation because of the recession, the fact they have less money and they know the value of their family home has fallen etc.


----------



## Mpsox (16 Dec 2009)

I've heard that some can't even get insurance which is very scary. Have to say however that it seems there is hardly a week goes by in which there isn't a solicitor in the papers for dodgy dealing so it's understandable

Many solicitors built up their practises in recent years on conveynacing, frankly, some don't know how to do anything else. Those will go out of business. I do think many of the longer established firms will survive albeit on a scaled back basis as they have the long term and more varied customer base

It's simple economics, supply and demand, we don't need as many of them any more


----------



## canicemcavoy (16 Dec 2009)

Unfortunately this is what happens when we think we can found an economy on people buying and selling houses to each other.


----------



## One (16 Dec 2009)

Brendan said:


> _This is how a solicitor described it to me in an email recently_
> 
> I really don't know where to start to be honest, but what's actually going on in this profession at the moment is galling. I'm on Jobseeker's Allowance; my practice and fee income has collapsed; AIB is calling in my overdraft facilities because solicitor's practices are no longer viewed by credit departments as "viable businesses"; I'm in danger of losing my home; the Law Society are reporting me to the Disciplinary Tribunal for not filing an accountant's report, the only reason being is because I don't have the money to pay an accountant; I face another prosecution from the Society because I won't be able to purchase run off insurance cover at a cost of 40,000 Euro in December in compliance with the legislation.
> 
> So that's my life at the moment, and truly I cannot wait to get out of this monumental train wreck of a profession. I'm telling this story to anyone who contacts me about the profession, as the truth of what's actually going on must be told. I cannot stick it a moment longer, and all young people considering entering it should run for the hills as fast as possible.


 
That addresses my query fairly directly I must say! I am stunned to hear this (and of course I feel very sorry for the person who is in that much bother). Is this really caused principally by the decrease in conveyancing work? Was much of the legal profession over reliant upon conveyancing?


----------



## One (16 Dec 2009)

missdaisy said:


> ....in the area of family law more and more people are eligible for legal aid ........


 
Why are there more people eligible for legal aid? Is it because they may have lost their jobs, therefore they had a decrease in income, thus entitling them to legal aid?


----------



## pjmn (16 Dec 2009)

One said:


> That addresses my query fairly directly I must say! I am stunned to hear this (and of course I feel very sorry for the person who is in that much bother). Is this really caused principally by the decrease in conveyancing work? Was much of the legal profession over reliant upon conveyancing?



Have reason to come in contact with many Solicitors - some would say their business is down by c. 80% (those that were particularly exposed to conveyancing - either residential or commercial).  To add insult to injury many of them have invested in property themselves and are taking a hit on that side too.

I know some have little sympathy for them as a profession - but at the end of the day many of them have families the same as the rest of us, and have fallen from a height, which can't be easy...


----------



## j26 (16 Dec 2009)

I gather the insurance for conveyancing has gone through the roof, in large part due to Lynn et al.  It's not so bad for non-conveyancing practices.

At the moment, solicitors seem to be desperate to get in whatever money they can, which is an indication of how the profession has fallen in the last while.

Another huge shakeout is going to have to happen in the Bar - in the eighties there were about 400 barristers in Ireland, now there are over 1,400 in the Dublin Bar alone.  Unless that changes it's going to become a hobby profession for wealthy people.


----------



## Purple (16 Dec 2009)

j26 said:


> Another huge shakeout is going to have to happen in the Bar - in the eighties there were about 400 barristers in Ireland, now there are over 1,400 in the Dublin Bar alone.  Unless that changes it's going to become a hobby profession for wealthy people.



Is that not what it is now? 

Joking aside, we have far too many lawyers in the country so there's going to be some very painful changes over the next few years.

Wait 'till the Architects start one of these threads!


----------



## dewdrop (16 Dec 2009)

While the property collapse is a major issue maybe the PIAB also has an effect.  Compo claims were all the rage some time ago and seem to have died down recently.


----------



## Bronte (17 Dec 2009)

In addition to what One and Brendan has posted (business decimated, practices reducing drastically and PI going up dramatically) a lot of practices  are finding it difficult to get in fees even where there is business as apparently no one has any money.


----------



## LouisCribben (17 Dec 2009)

There seems to be a widespread view on this thread that there may be too many solicitors....
Is it regulated, can the law soc (or whatever the professional organisation is) limit the number of people who qualify ? If so, are they going to make it harder to qualify to reduce numbers ?  

Does anybody have any stats of how many solicitors we have per capita, and how it compares with other developed economies ?

Also does anybody know how big the legal industry is in monetary terms, like how big is the cake ?

I dont think the legal profession should despair, they should realise that the economic downturn effects everybody. A drop in economic activity means less money for everybody, no profession is immune, apart from say accountants involved in liquidations and doctors who specialise in dealing with depression.


----------



## Brendan Burgess (17 Dec 2009)

Hi Louis

They used to limit intake but this was decided to be anti-competitive a few years ago.

So now there is a vast oversupply. 

You are right about the economy going in cycles, but we will need one gigantic economic boom to employ all the solicitors we have. 

It's probably no harm. I suspect that we have too many solicitors and barristers and there needs to be a massive rationalisation of the legal profession.

In trying to recover an €8k debt recently, I had to have a solicitor and a barrister. I have successfully got €150k compensation from the Financial Services Ombudsman without any legal assistance. I have represented myself in front of the Labour Relations Commission. But the system is too complex for chasing a commercial debt. It needs to be simplified and we will need even fewer solicitors. 

Likewise our property registration process should be changed so that people can buy and sell their property without legal assistance, if they want to. 

Brendan


----------



## Robskiola (17 Dec 2009)

I've just been reading the above and I'd like to respond to a couple of points outlined:

I'm a 29 year old Solicitor who up until the beginning of 2009 was employed in a large provincial practice. I, along with two other solicitors and fifteen members of staff, were selected for redundancy on a last in, first out criteria. The reasons given for our redundancy was the major decline in conveyancing work which, as rightly pointed out, was the major income generating work for years in most practices. This work obviously saw many solicitors become very wealthy over a short space of time, with most equity partners in substantial rural firms drawing down on between 150,000-250,000 (Obviously these fees would have been higher in Dublin city firms, but my knowledge on this would purely be anecdotal and at times, quite speculative). As Louis Cribben points out, the recession affects everybody. Thus, even if your business was not derived mainly from commercial property transactions, the truth is the general loss of income and capital, for both individuals and companies, means those individuals and companies are less likely to want to engage in legal work, unless they absolutely have to. This is especially the case in Litigation as the 'c word' (costs) looms a little larger now (as if that was still possible). Costs follow the event, meaning that whoever loses the case will generally have to pay the costs of the winning side, in addition to their own legal costs. This is very daunting and scary position for any client, either plaintiff or defendant to be in, even where that client's case seems almost watertight as the failure to win could see a catastrophic impact on your client's finances. Therefore, in a continuing effort to offset the possibility of being lumbered with massive legal costs, settlements are still very much in fashion (unless you're an insurance firm, to which I understand they are more likely to contest matters than before, as they need to recoup monies as best as possible. In other words, they're prepared to gamble more in court that you're responsible for the accident or that the level of damages you're looking for will be seen as excessive.) Obviously, a settlement would require the paying of legal fees, however, these legal fees would be much less than if the matter was to advance to full hearing and an award of costs being made in favour of one party or another. Not to get too bogged down here, I'm using the issue of litigation/costs/settlements as another example of the reduction of fees due to the economy in an area other than conveyancing.

What this all means for the profession is massive redundancies and I think the current figure is 800 unemployed solicitors in this country out of about 10,000 plus members of the profession. The redundancies have mainly been concentrated on junior members of the profession, much like myself, who have between 0-3 years post qualification experience. If they are not made redundant, then they are quite likely on a 3 day week or at the very least, there salary has been reduced. Very few have remained unscathed from this mess. The options open to us now are the same as for many others; emigrate, continue to looking for work, set up on your own or do something different altogether. I think there is no set answer on what my colleagues should do next. I think it's a very personal decision which encompasses how they have viewed their profession up to this point, their experiences, and wants in life etc. Many are already fed up with the role, some are too frustrated on having spent so much time getting here for no jobs to be available that they wish to have nothing more to do with the legal world and are happy to leave it behind them. Personally, I have a deep appreciation for our work and for our role in society and despite the public perception I think there are many solicitors who see clients as people who need assistance and not merely as the next pay cheque. Obviously we need to be paid for our services in order to survive, but I personally wouldn't have that as my only motivation for working in this area. With that in mind, I hope to open my own practice, now that the insurance quotes for small one-man shows are not as prohibitive as initially thought. 

Before I finish this very long post (apologies) I just wanted to respond to Brendan. I understand your desire to be able to deal with matters without the assistance of a solicitor. No doubt you are an educated individual, able to know where to look for information on a legal issue and to apply to whatever set of facts. I also agree that individuals should be able to represent themselves in a court of law or tribunal should they wish to do so. However, your mention the property registration business and how you would like to see it opened up to lay people. I have to disagree with you there. As a friend once said to me 'They want to let everyone do conveyancing. Why shouldn't I be allowed to open up a dentistry practice and say I want to carry out root canals? I have no experience in it, but what's the difference between that and conveyancing. They're both skills that you acquire through experience and work and are specific to each profession. Why should that be taken away from us?'


----------



## Purple (17 Dec 2009)

Robskiola said:


> As a friend once said to me 'They want to let everyone do conveyancing. Why shouldn't I be allowed to open up a dentistry practice and say I want to carry out root canals? I have no experience in it, but what's the difference between that and conveyancing. They're both skills that you acquire through experience and work and are specific to each profession. Why should that be taken away from us?'



Good post but I think your analogy is a bit off. I think the example of someone building their own home would be a better one. They don’t have to employ an architect or a professional builder if they don’t want to. They simply have to make sure that what they do conforms to specific standards.


----------



## onq (17 Dec 2009)

Brendan said:


> Hi Louis
> 
> They used to limit intake but this was decided to be anti-competitive a few years ago.
> 
> ...


What I think you're really saying is that the limit for the District Court should be raised. Your claim exceeded €6,300 odd allowed in the District Court and you were required to be represented at Circuit Court level or above, instead of being able to take the case yourself.

It doesn't logically follow that more solicitors is a bad thing.
What an oversupply should do is lower the price of doing the job as competition for business kicks in.
However the baseline costs for doing business as a solicitor are still too high, based on the comments posted above referring to €40,000. That's an astonishing figure, and its either a massive over-charging based on occassional Michael Lynn-type occurrences or there are more solicitors being sued routinely than is being reported in the Press.



> Likewise our property registration process should be changed so that people can buy and sell their property without legal assistance, if they want to.
> Brendan


As another poster has noted, you personally might be competent to represent yourself in front of a quasi-legal or legal forum. Most people are not.
You have a logical mind, well sorted in terms of logical argument and presentation of facts, honed by years of moderation here. Most people do not.
You may have so much experience in terms of conveyancing that you will not make the kind of errors that even solicitors fall prey to. I am not so self-assured.

I say this as somone who has certified hundreds of apartments over the years, sworn many Declarations of Identity, marked up and signed off on many Title and Registry Maps.
I'm the one who checks that the folio names and numbers cited in the Declarations are correctly called up just before they are signed and sealed.
I am relatively competent at what I do - or, at least, I have yet to have a sworn document returned by any solicitor for correction.


I have often discovered and corrected typos and transpositional errors in citing folios, but I am not competent to perform an in-depth check on old title documents, for example.
I would certainly want at least a year or two working in a solicitor's office before I was let near a detailed search for surviving relatives, for example.
That's just my opinion, but I think you'll find that most qualified professionals will share it, whatever profession they are in.

This kind of attitude is not limited to the professions or professional protectionism. 
Anyone who's learnt a skill or a trade knows the pitfalls and mistakes made on the way.
Its the basic dictum of the least skilled tradesman to the most bright-eyed general operative on the building site:

"Stick to what you're good at".

FWIW

ONQ.


----------



## One (17 Dec 2009)

Very interesting post* Robskiola*.


----------



## MOB (17 Dec 2009)

All of what has been posted is broadly correct - but I would hesitate to describe this as a 'train wreck' of a profession.   It's a speed-bump -a VERY big one, granted.  Big enough to ruin your suspension, and loosen a few teeth maybe - but not to put you off driving. 

Insurance has indeed gone up very significantly.   There is a survey of solicitors' insurance costs being carried out by a solicitor in Mayo.  I expect the results will be published in due course, or will otherwise make their way into the public domain.   Insurance costs for solicitors are undoubtedly going to be higher - but I don't see this as a problem.  So long as your competitors all face the same costs, high insurance does not place you at a competitive disadvantage.   Sooner or later, the increased costs will be reflected in higher legal charges.  So - a painful adjustment certainly, but not a structural problem;

Conveyancing has for years been the mainstay of the profession.  Certainly, I have been very heavily reliant upon conveyancing income over the past fifteen years.  However, we need to bear in mind that it is not the drop in property prices (per se) which has hammered the profession.  Rather, it is the enormous drop in the number of transactions.  Even if property prices stay where they are now (indeed even if they go lower) the legal profession is probably not as badly off as the builders and architects.  We just need the market to stabilise, so that people start trading up, trading down, selling off their inherited house(s) etc., as would normally happen in a stable property market.  

After the ridiculous overhang of unsold housing is cleared, the 'froth' of perhaps 50,000 new house sales per annum will be gone for good.  But that is, after all, only 8-10 (approx) transactions per solicitor per annum - hardly enough to bankrupt the profession (though of course it is not evenly spread and equates to more than 50 transactions per annum for some solicitors, who are finding the adjustment very painful.  I speak as one of them)

I recall speaking with an older and more prosperous colleague earlier this year and he told me that they had reduced their monthly drawings twice and that they were now only taking money when it was there.  I was mightily relieved (my thoughts being 'it's not just me then').  It is very tough - but I think that the profession will come through this relatively unscathed (over perhaps a five year timeframe).  The people who will suffer most are :

1. The recently qualified (and up to perhaps 5 years qualified) solicitors (such as Robskiola) who - having been laid off - may find it impossible to re-enter the legal profession and will have to make some stark choices about pursuing other careers.  (by the way Robskiola - nobody in the profession got seriously wealthy out of conveyancing work; many dabbled in property themselves, but that is a whole other story)

2.  The small practitioner nearing retirement who perhaps thought he\she could sell the practice to fund that retirement.   Banks will be very reluctant to lend money to buy a legal practice and prospective purchasers will be very thin on the ground.  So, old geezers and geezerettes will probably have to keep going well past 65.  This was common in the profession in the past and will become common again.


----------



## MOB (17 Dec 2009)

Regarding the question as to whether we have too many lawyers:

The US figure is one for every 265 people.  This is the highest per-capita population of lawyers in the world, I think.  No idea if this is the figure for lawyers in practice.  US has a strong trend for lawyers to go into industry (in much the way that accountants do here in Ireland)

The UK figure (from Wiki-answers ) is one lawyer for every 401 people.   UK is a reasonable comparator esp. as we also have a financial services centre.  

The UK figure would equate to 10,723 lawyers in Ireland (assuming population of circa 4.3million).

In 2008 there were 8,231 practising solicitors and a total of 9,115 members of the Law Society (solicitors not in practice do not need take out a practicing cert, but may retain membership of the Law Society).   

Taking into account the numbers at the Bar, it seems clear that we probably do have an excess of lawyers - but not by any means a huge excess.   Natural shrinkage will resolve this over a few years.

The inability to absorb the newly qualified solicitors is a bigger issue in my opinion.


----------



## Robskiola (18 Dec 2009)

MOB, please allow me to ask you, as seasoned member of the profession, what's your perspective on us younger members opening their own firms? You note that stark choices need to be made. I agree with you completely. My decision has been to go ahead and open my own practice in my local community. The way I see it, is that the majority of problems for firms are their operating costs. The business plan I've formulated has costs at a very low rate, not more than €300 per week, including both PI and Practising Certificate. Keep the costs low and provided you can pull in a few files over the months to keep you going, hopefully I can break even in the first year, then I can position myself for when the upswing happens. The level of competition in my hometown is five other firms, with about 13 total solicitors. If you don't mind me asking, what would you say to someone like me thinking of taking this venture? 

My own thoughts on this matter are that with 
1. Hard work
2. Good People skills
3. Strong advertising
4. Good customer service
5. Keeping Costs low and
6. A bit of common sense
The whole thing just might work.


----------



## MOB (18 Dec 2009)

Robskiola, I hope that works out for you.  I really do.  But for the profession, I am afraid that your plan is not the way forward.  The reality is that you cannot possibly keep your overhead to €15k per annum and still offer a full service. So you will have to cherry-pick and unless you can establish yourself in an uncommon niche, you will be getting business mostly by heavy price competition.  It's a race to the bottom.

Lots of people doing what you propose will ultimately contribute to the increased stratification of the profession and to the creation of a sort of underclass within the profession.  

Certainly, what you propose is very similar to the way that many solicitors start out - but they usually have an expectation of expanding and into a properly-staffed full service law firm before too long.   If you don't have that intention I would certainly have second thoughts about going ahead.


----------



## Askar (18 Dec 2009)

Robskiola said:


> My own thoughts on this matter are that with
> 1. Hard work
> 2. Good People skills
> 3. Strong advertising
> ...


 
These are qualities/skillsets important for any service, not just law.  However, if there is reduced demand for the service against an increased number of service providers, one could also conclude that these qualities are better applied in other markets. 

I am not sure that broad per capita comparisons with UK is good indicator of market supply equilibrium. London is a world financial centre and commercial lawyers in London will be closing project financed deals all over the world. There are also TMT and other niche/boutique practices. The general legal practitioner is the dominant model in Ireland - it relies on income from conveyancing, litigation and probate. As pointed out the first two have significantly contracted. So, I would argue that we should have a lower per capita number of lawyers then we currently have.


----------



## LouisCribben (18 Dec 2009)

Robskiola said:


> The level of competition in my hometown is five other firms, with about 13 total solicitors.



We cant evaluate if there are already too many solicitors in your town because you haven't told us the population of the town, and if the town has a lot of industry requiring legal services.

Someone worked out we have around 1 solicitor for every 480 people in the country........I hope the population of your town is greater than 6'500,  or else there is already a disproportionately large number of solicitors there

If there is not a lot of industry in your town, there would probably need to be a much greater population than 6500 people there to justify another practice....

My advise is to not restrict yourself to your hometown,  set up your business where there is a need.





Robskiola said:


> My own thoughts on this matter are that with
> 1. Hard work
> 2. Good People skills
> 3. Strong advertising
> ...



You have a good set of principles listed. You forgot to mention being very competitive on pricing......in the early years you may need to undercut the competition to get work.


----------



## Marion (18 Dec 2009)

> My own thoughts on this matter are that with
> 1. Hard work
> 2. Good People skill
> 3. Strong advertising
> ...


_

Don't forget *the most important aspect* ... *being the best at your job*. 
_

I have come across the most useless/incompetent solictors and I have also come across excellent solictors.

Marion


----------



## pudds (18 Dec 2009)

I find it very hard to have any sympathy for solicitors, because when I wanted to move house, again, the previous solicitor that had my file charged me €150 for releasing it.   and I unemployed, not that he bothered to enquire.


----------



## whitegrass (18 Dec 2009)

*Robskiola *this is prior posting of mine from a different thread

"If it correct to assume that there is not enough work available to keep all *Solicitors* going, where will the casualties occur? Tier 1 firms have less commercial and corporate work available - particularly commercial conveyancing e.g. recent injunction application ?!? Tier 1 and 2 firms are moving or will move downstream for corporate work. Commodity, or practically any, conveyancing in lower tier firms is a distant memory. PIAB has all but stopped personal injury litigation. Commercial litigation is available but there is an uncertainty in getting paid. Employment law is busy but pays poorly and family law is very much dependant upon the property market. There are some other niche areas like pensions law which are no doubt busy but expertise are concentrated in a few firms. Probate is also somewhat dependant upon the health of the property (and stock) market.

All in all I would crudely guess that there is 40% over *capacity* in the *Solicitors*' profession. This will result in a combination of large scale redundancies, decreasing incomes for all but a very few and decreased pricing based on a simple demand and supply equasion.

The legal profession is heavily aligned with the health of the economy. The numbers in the profession far exceed the current and medium term requirement of the economy.

I can see very poor prospects for a great many *Solicitors*. "

I would suggest to you that the country is saturated with Solicitors. However I think that you could succeed at given your client orientated qualaties. However, as it would appear that you are adaptable, you should consider whether you would gain much greater recompense from another client focused enterprise.


----------



## Bazoo (19 Dec 2009)

Brendan said:


> Likewise our property registration process should be changed so that people can buy and sell their property without legal assistance, if they want to.
> 
> Brendan



Firstly, by "property registration process" do you mean registration of title to property? By "buying and selling property", do you mean conveyancing? 

Registering title and conveyancing are not the same thing. Registration of title is done after the conveyancing process is complete and title passes, and is (subject to exceptions) reasonably straightforward. Conveyancing, on the other hand, is a complicated process, particularly conveyancing of Registry of Deeds properties (confusingly for the layperson called "unregistered" titles). Conveyancing requires knowledge of other areas of law, such as family law, probate, and tax. Ownership of land under Irish law is extremely complex, and in respect of any particular piece of land, ownership may be fragmented into numerous interests and sub-interests. This is not a system created by solicitors, and is something that those who repeatedly call for a simpler and cheaper system would do well to remember. 

Secondly, and in spite of the above, there is nothing in our present legal system to stop an individual from doing their own conveyancing, if s/he so wishes. I agree with the dentist analogy used by a previous poster, and disagree with Purple's comment that building your own house would be a better analogy. There is more required than simply conforming to standards to complete a conveyance, including academic and legal training, technical expertise and professional competence.


----------



## LouisCribben (21 Dec 2009)

I agree with Bazoo, it is better when legal stuff like conveyancing and registering title are done by people who have expertise and daily experience in the area......less chance of mistakes being made.

Equally it's better if all plumbing is done by plumbers, all electricity work done by electricians, if people are doing something everyday, they are more likely to get it right first time, more quickly and efficiently.

But, I don't agree with the dentist analogy !
I reckon given a laptop, the internet, and websites like AAM, I could find out everything I need to know to do my own conveyancing, it might take a bit of time and research.
But could I do a root canal filling with research from my own laptop ?...........not a chance.   Not even the worlds biggest cowboy could do a root canal without getting formal and practical training, however most legal stuff is within the grasp of people who can read and understand english.

I think the legal industry has suffered a bit because of the internet. People can find out ways of saving on legal fees (like Brendan representing himself without a solicitor) by researching it themselves.   Twenty years ago it would have been much more difficult because it was harder then to get information.


----------



## Deirdre D (7 Jan 2010)

Robskioal, please can you email me at deirdre.davis43@gmail.com re the PII quotes you have received as i am also interested in setting up my own practise


----------



## Robskiola (19 Jan 2010)

Well the die has been cast and I write to just to say the numbers have been crunched and projected and 'operation law firm' is underway. Deirdre,I would check out Aon; they are coming in at the cheapest. 

I appreciate the constructive criticisms from above, especially from those who have been in this game for some time (MOB in particular). I'll let you know how the firm does in time.


----------



## One (19 Jan 2010)

Good luck with it Robskiola. Hope it goes well for you.


----------

