Co-op plans to dominate English high-street law
28 May 2012
The Co-operative Group has announced plans to
build the biggest consumer law business in England & Wales
within five years, with will writing, probate and estate
administration a big part of its target market.
The coming into force of England's Legal
Services Act (LSA) earlier this year signalled the likely entry of
large commercial retailers into the consumer legal services sector.
(This is sometimes called ‘Tesco Law’, though Tesco has not shown
much interest in it yet.) The Co-op, which has for some time been
offering limited legal services, was one of the first such firms to
apply successfully for the necessary alternative business structure
(ABS) licence, and at the time announced plans to expand.
Co-operative Legal Services is already one of the country's 100
biggest law firms, and a big employer of Chartered Legal Executives
with 450 employees.
Now, however, it says its current limited
trial of consumer legal services at 30 of its high-street bank
branches will be expanded to all 330 branches, which include those
still under the Britannia brand name. These will be administered
from five regional hubs, and a family-law business will also be
launched in London this year, to be headed by senior lawyers from
Solicitors TV Edwards.
The expansion will create 3,000 new jobs, of
which 90 per cent will be fee-earning legal staff. It hopes to
recruit through legal apprenticeships and opportunities for study
leave.
The Co-op group's Chief Executive, Peter
Marks, said its selling points would be its ‘trusted brand and
values, UK-wide branch network, first-class people and services,
together with fair and fixed pricing options’. The latter is a
significant pointer to the price war likely to overwhelm
high-street law firms soon. Recent research by the Legal Services
Board (LSB) showed that customers who were charged fixed fees
usually came off best, and the Legal Ombudsman has criticised the
profession for sticking to hourly rates rather than fixed fees.
To save costs, services will be provided
through either a telephone service or the Internet, with
face-to-face service being limited to selected cases. As well as
will writing, probate and estate administration, the business will
take on conveyancing, personal injury claims, family law and
employment law. Cross-selling from existing businesses such as
insurance, healthcare, financial and funeral services is also
likely to be a strong feature of the Co-op's marketing plan.
Sources
Co-operative Group
BBC
News