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Lawyers learn new skills
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Solicitors are starting to diversify as their property boom income vanishes, writes Mary Minihan.

Solicitors, who did well out of the construction and property boom, are now among those trying to find alternative sources of income by developing expertise in new areas.

Law Society director general Ken Murphy conceded that solicitors might appear to have more reason than most to succumb to the economic gloom ’‘in which Ireland seems almost completely submerged’’. However, he warned that, while the situation was undoubtedly serious, solicitors mustn’t succumb to pessimism. ’‘In keeping with the traditional spirit of the profession, solicitors are resisting the prevailing negativity, keeping their nerve and fighting back," he said.

The surge in professional development courses reflects solicitors’ growing awareness of the need to consider new opportunities. Murphy said the society had recorded ’‘a very considerable increase in the profession’s uptake on these educational opportunities in recent months, consistent with the desire of a great many practitioners to reskill in areas of legal practice where opportunities may still exist’’.

Few lawyers are setting up new enterprises, with most opting for education and training in areas of practice which may have been previously unfamiliar. A seminar last Friday, Changing the traditional methods of practice for increased profitability, was over-subscribed. In the new year, the Law Society will run further topical courses on SME insolvency, dismissals, redundancy and employment law issues. IT courses scheduled for March aim to give solicitors the skills to take on administration work directly.

Murphy added that, ’‘despite its undeserved reputation for conservatism’’, the profession had adapted well to change. ’‘It has seen off many economic recessions in the past, and it will see this one off as well," he said. Gavin Simons, of Dublin solicitors BCM Hanby Wallace, a founding member of the Irish Society of Insolvency Practitioners, cited his own speciality as a particular growth area.

’‘The workload is increasing week on week and, in the last fortnight, it’s mushroomed. There’s always one area on the up while others are down. It’s all cyclical. ’‘It’s about re-education and diversifying. If you stand still, you’re going to find a very empty desk in a very empty office, and your overheads will remain the same," he said.

’‘We’re a service industry: it’s what lawyers do. If clients don’t require services for whatever reason, we’re obviously going to feel the consequences." Michael Benson, of Benson & Associates, a consultancy specialising in legal recruitment, said firms were still actively seeking to develop their litigation practices.

There was particular emphasis on contractual debt and employment matters, as well as insolvency, he said. Demand for banking expertise remained strong, Benson said, and lawyers with good commercial awareness skills would continue to be sought after.

’‘In the short-to-medium term, there is likely to be considerable growth in demand for lawyers who are prepared to develop an expertise in compliance and regulatory matters," he said. Pointing to growth areas for barristers, a spokeswoman for the Bar Council said:’ ‘Debt-related areas - which used to be more niche areas - seem to be expanding somewhat, as do family law and commercial disputes.

’‘It’s a sign of the recessionary times." Meanwhile, in the North, senior barristers recently threatened to strike over £40 million in unpaid fees they said they were owed from the North’s Court Service, the Law Society also issued a defiant message. The Northern Society’s president, Barry Finlay, said solicitors should be actively working to change the fiscal situation. ’‘It is very easy to add to the negativity which currently prevails in respect of the economy," he said.

’‘However, the society feels that it is important to make a positive contribution to changing the current economic situation by engaging with government, the banking institutions and our members and, having regard to the initiatives already taken locally by the minister of social development, to stimulate the social housing market."

Concerned about the number of solicitors who have been made redundant or had working hours reduced, Finlay said the society had been ’‘engaged in a series of meetings with Assembly ministers in respect of addressing the economic and housing market situation’’.

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