Rural law firms facing issues of succession

Anxiety is growing that rural law firms are facing a worrying succession issue as it becomes increasingly more difficult to recruit young solicitors to general practice in outlying areas.

Significant numbers of country firms are unable to compete with salaries on offer in the city as the effects of dwindling local economies, stagnant rates of legal aid, and competitive conveyancing fees hit their profit levels.

Some firms are pulling out of civil and criminal legal aid provision altogether because the administrative burden and travel to local courts mean it is an uneconomical option for rural practices.

Yet for those young solicitors willing to work in rural practice, the prospects of early partnership, a varied workload, and affordable property, should make it an attractive option.

Bruce de Wert, a partner in D& W Georgeson, which has offices in Wick and Thurso, canvassed opinions from solicitors in the Caithness area as to the difficulties encountered by firms in outlying areas.

The commonly held view was that the “considerable hassle” of doing legal aid work was simply not worthwhile and many will be closely examining the new civil legal aid regime “with a view to deciding whether to continue or not”.

“On the basis of criminal legal aid changes, it can be anticipated that many rural practitioners will not be interested in continuing. Why should they when they can only make money by having a huge volume and cutting quality?”

Rural practitioners are, suggests de Wert, also finding that some areas of practice are out of bounds to them because of the increasing complexity of the law involved. High volume conveyancing operators and centralisation of services by financial institutions has added to the difficulties encountered by those working in outlying areas.

“Disbelief was expressed that it was possible to offer a conveyancing package to professional standards for the prices being quoted by these firms.

“ Some feel that because in rural communities we offer a bespoke service rather than the off-the-peg, no-frills service offered by the mass market operators, then it is not a real threat. The view was expressed that if we face bucket shop challenges, there is no point in the conveyancing ‘monopoly’. We might as well just let go and face full competition.”

Underlying everything, says de Wert, is a concern that “the days of the rural practitioner are numbered.

“With increasing specialisation, centralisation and the marginalisation of legal aid the share of the market in which rural practitioners operate shrinks still further, there is justification for that concern.”

It’s a concern shared in other rural parts of the country.

Duncan Burt, partner in Anderson MacArthur & Co, Portree and Council member for Kirkwall, Lerwick, Portree, Lochmaddy and Stornaway, says that it’s all too difficult to make criminal legal aid practice pay.  The top-up fee of £50 for an appearance in a rural sheriff court is “derisory”, he says.  His firm’s approach to civil legal aid is to take on cases in very specific areas only, despite the fact that their skills base is competent in a number of areas.

R Iain Ferguson, Dean of the Faculty of Solicitors in Campbeltown, is in no doubt that attracting new blood to work in rural practices is the single biggest issue to affect outlying firms – unless the position changes soon, he warns “rural legal practices will cease to exist”

His firm, like many in the area, have been trying for years to attract qualified staff to come and work for them without success.

Salary is one issue, but the impression he has is that general practice is a declining market, due to cut-price conveyancing and the relative decline in legal aid rates.

“For anyone who comes along and shows interest, then early partnership is bound to form part of the discussions even at the initial interview stage. You’ve got to be prepared to say where you’re coming from, and make it clear that they will be part of the profession and community in the area.”

Rural communities are an ideal place if bringing up a young family, house prices are more affordable and you don’t have some of the same social problems, said Ferguson.

But he admits “it’s difficult not to be all gloom and doom about the future if we can’t attract young qualified assistants” .

Morris Anderson of Peebles firm Blackwood & Smith and council member for Haddington, Peebles, Jedburgh, Duns and Selkirk said succession was a problem there also but that Peebles was close enough to Edinburgh for people to commute.

He added the problem may be not just that young solicitors don’t want to come but as so few are training in general practice that in any event they wouldn’t have the practice base – the GP is almost becoming a specialisation in itself.

Blackwood & Smith have effectively pulled out of court work altogether, meaning that in Peebles there are no firms offering a legal aid service. The Sheriff Court has been operating from Selkirk for the last 18 months and it simply doesn’t pay to take on cases, said Anderson.

Despite that, all the firms in the town are very busy, and as Anderson points out, there needs to be at least three good firms in a town to avoid any conflict of interest situations.

“Peebles is a growing town and it is a bad state of affairs that no firm feels able to offer court services, it’s just not worth the hassle.”

One suggestion for addressing rural firm’s specialisation problem could be networking. In essence, firms would syndicate their expertise to enable them to offer the complete service.

Bruce de Wert explains how it might work: “I have an interest in employment law but at the moment there is no incentive for me to actually get up on employment law because I would get in one client every couple of months so there is no point in me becoming an expert in it because there is no money in it.  However, if we had some sort of network of rural solicitors, or solicitors in general, whereby using the benefit of modern technology, my client could sit in my office and see an expert who is in Orkney or wherever. Effectively they are coming to me but they are getting a specialist service in
the rural community without me taking the risk of doing work that I’m not sufficiently expert in.”

However, few solutions seem to be on offer to address the impending succession crisis.

As one generation of partners retire, there is a deficit of trainees and qualified assistants queuing up to take their place.

According to de Wert, because young lawyers are educated in the cities they appear to be scared to try alternatives, seeing rural practice as “second rate” or being attracted by specialisation.  

“Magazines, such as ‘The Firm’, tend to exacerbate the problem by portraying a world of trendy, highly paid, lawyers which is a far cry from the reality of most practitioners, even in the city.”

But for those young solicitors who opt for rural practice, the prospects can be good for early progression up the career ladder.

While there might be a suggestion that there is a danger that these people are attaining partnership too early in their careers, it seems more rural firms are realising that the only way to attract and retain talented fresh blood is to incentivise them with the prospect of early promotion, give them a genuine stake in the firm, and in the community in which they are practising.

Loane Lennon is one of the new breed of young partners in rural law firms - a lifeblood as rural practice struggles to attract and retain new practitioners.

As a native of the Moray area, and with a young family, the decision to work in an area like Buckie wasn’t a difficult one. However, she thought long and hard about entering into the partnership. “It’s a big financial commitment and an enormous responsibility.”

She admits that in the long-term it is a concern as to how firms will staff their practice, and says that often the only way is to attempt to poach staff from other firms in the locality.

Like most small towns, there is enough work for three firms all to be kept busy, and there’s a degree of loyalty from clients who won’t shop around for  cut-price conveyancing.

“We have to work hard and keep long hours, and be prepared to take any work that comes along.”

Like many in rural practice, she does civil work but tries to avoid court appearances as that doesn’t pay.

“We will need to take a long look at the profitability of civil court work after the new regime to see if it will still pay to do it at all.”

Greig McDonnell was also made aware early at his career with Galashiels firm Iain Smith & Partners that partnership prospects were  high if he committed to a long-term future with the firm.

He too has concerns that the new civil legal aid regime won’t help – its purported benefits for those firms doing bulk work may not apply.

With two of the firm’s partners due to retire in the relatively near future, succession planning is difficult.

More aggressive marketing of the firm, and promoting the benefits of  life in rural practice might have to be considered.

“Rural firms will have to sell themselves to would-be assistants by promoting the benefits of life in the country: lifestyle, hours, type of work they can offer, some of which, such as offering inheritance tax advice to the farming community, can be lucrative,” said McDonnell.

And amid concerns about the future of rural practice, it would be wrong to forget the pleasures. Bruce de Wert sums up why rural practice is always likely to remain a lifestyle choice for some.

“I live 50 yards from my office. I can be out on the open road on my road bike within 20 minutes of finishing work.  I don’t need to take work home so my family life is not disrupted. I do work long hours but these are taken in the morning so I have a full family life which, I did not have when I worked in the city.  I am known and respected in the community in which I live.  I’m still considered the “man of business” and consulted by clients on a myriad of issues, some of which have a minimal legal element.  As a result, there remains a high degree of professional satisfaction, which I suspect may well have been lost in the city.”