A Time of Change : Solicitors’ Firms in England and Wales

Recession and structural changes to the market for legal services are combining to create a turbulent environment for the solicitors' profession. The recession has had a significant impact on demand for legal services. Changing fee structures, increased competition, changes to ownership rules and the introduction of new technologies are providing challenges and disruption to traditional forms of practice. Then there are changes to legal aid, which will soon lead to a substantial reduction in legal aid payments to the profession. This presents a particular challenge for traditional legal aid practice.This report sets out the findings of a survey of solicitors' firms commissioned by the Law Society, Legal Services Board and Ministry of Justice to provide a benchmark of the profession at a time of significant regulatory and legal aid policy changes. The survey was conducted by TNS-BMRB, and achieved a sample of 2,007 solicitors' firms across England and Wales, ranging from sole practitioners to large corporate firms. Fieldwork was conducted in April and May 2012. To enable a broader range of analyses and fill gaps in the data, the survey data was supplemented by administrative data drawn from the Law Society's Regis system and legal aid related data from the Legal Services Commission