www.lawsociety.org.uk The Law Society Delivering for our members Business Review 2016-17 Contents 02 The Law Society Business Review 2016/17 Foreword This Business Review sets out our achievements during the 2016-17 financial year. This publication is one of the ways we report on our progress and sets out what we have delivered for our members. We are run by and for our members, influencing and We will continue to use your feedback to help us develop how promoting our profession. We aim to be members’ source we support you. As your Law Society, we are determined to of legal news, as well as their practice enabler and career make the most of our resources, by delivering products and companion. During a year of significant developments, we services you value, as efficiently and effectively as we can. have made great progress on the work we do and here we We will make sure you always get value for money, both highlight just some of our key achievements and examples of from your practising fee and if you choose to purchase our the impact we have had. products and services. The legal sector is evolving and we are committed to We are always open to hearing your views and hope you supporting solicitors to make the most of these opportunities, enjoy reading this review. meeting the needs of our community and responding to challenges. We remain committed to putting members at the heart of everything we do. Whether we are seeking to influence governments, campaigning for justice, delivering training or promoting solicitors to the public, we work to make sure your voice is heard, your needs are met, and your business is supported. Whether you work in a high street practice, a commercial, regional or City firm, an ABS (alternative business structure) or in-house for a private, public or charitable organisation, the Law Society exists for you. The international standing of English and Welsh law and England and Wales as a centre of legal excellence continues to enhance our international reputation and facilitates global business. We also fulfil, on behalf of the solicitor profession, an important public interest role supporting access to justice, upholding individual rights and freedoms, supporting public Joe Egan legal education and upholding the rule of law. Law Society president www.lawsociety.org.uk 03 The Law Society Business Review 2016/17 What we achieved in 2016-17 16,200,000 9 3 8 4 The number of members the Law We issued 156 media statements last Our new brand campaign reached Society library has helped with legal year, with 4,651 articles mentioning over 16.2m people through outdoor research enquiries during 2016-17 the Law Society and 1,046 featuring advertising, alongside 219,000+ social the president media engagements and 903,000+ video views 660, 000 On average we had 660,000 visits per The Gazette website had a 15% month to our Find A Solicitor website increase in visits and exceeded its annual revenue target by 13% 04 The Law Society Business Review 2016/17 £ 17 22,000 40 233 9 Our anti-money laundering bi-monthly We made 17 interventions on behalf We were mentioned positively newsletter has over 22,000 subscribers. of solicitors around the world over the 233 times in Parliament, invited The anti-money laundering helpline past 12 months, promoting human 9 times to give oral evidence received 2,700 calls rights and independent solicitors and mentioned over 40 times in parliamentary committee reports 49,000 427 Our Professional Development Centre The Excellence Awards received a hosted 71 webinars and courses, including record number of 427 nominations 6 new courses. Over 7,000 people took across its 19 categories with 654 part in out webinars, with over 49,000 attendees on the night participating in our courses 05 The Law Society Business Review 2016/17 Promoting our profession We promote solicitors, highlighting their ethical and professional standards, legal education and training, and the value of using a solicitor at home and abroad. We raise the profile of the profession through our campaigns and promote the value solicitors bring. We celebrate the best work in the profession and encourage the best people to join it, regardless of their background. At home Find a Solicitor Find a Solicitor is our online member directory with Solicitor brand campaign customisable profiles, helping you build your business. We have focused on making the service more efficient to Our ‘Solicitors: Here to Help’ campaign positioned solicitors increase leads for our members and their firms by taking the as the expert source of legal advice, using both digital and enquiries service back in-house to our Support Centre. Since print materials to promote the profession to businesses and then, the website traffic increased to an average of over consumers. The multi-channel campaign included poster 660,000 visits per month, with nearly 7,000 calls per month advertising on buses in key cities in England and Wales, on to the helpline. selected railway stations and roadside digital screens. Digital engagement brought legal issues to life using animation The Excellence Awards and illustration, and we produced a suite of videos featuring Our Excellence Awards represent a cross section of the our members. diversity of the legal profession and are especially valued by smaller and mid-sized firms because of the positive We ran campaigns on social media across Twitter, Facebook, attention being short-listed or winning brings to their firms LinkedIn and Instagram, alongside advertising on YouTube or to them as individuals. This year we received a record and the ITV Hub. We advertised in regional newspapers number of nominations and ceremony attendees, with 427 and business publications and online across news websites. nominations across the 19 categories, up from 416 in 2016, Working with our agency partner we also created a website and 654 attendees on the night. allowing solicitors to customise campaign posters with their own logos and contact details. We exceeded the campaign targets with: • 4,835,311 visits to the Find a Solicitor website A glittering opportunity for solicitors • gaining 9.1 million social media impressions and their employers to promote their • 219,206 social media engagements worth; to be valued and to feel part of a worthwhile community. • 903,519 video views • reaching 16.2m people through outdoor advertising Michael Robinson, solicitor Emmerson’s Solicitors 06 The Law Society Business Review 2016/17 Women solicitors With the support of our vice-president Christina Blacklaws, we progressed with the formation of our women and the 7,152 total accreditations awarded law strategy. We organised a roundtable with 25 women solicitors, and a seminar on diversity in the legal profession during the Opening of the Legal Year. Pro bono 5,273 We launched our Pro Bono Charter to encourage firms to entity accreditations make a public commitment to undertaking and encouraging pro bono work, and to ensure it is done to a high quality. We secured over 50 signatories to the Charter within the first year, reaching our target ahead of schedule. 1,879 Consultations individual accreditations We published our report Better Employment Practices for Better Work, which set out 11 key recommendations that could be taken forward by the government as part of its review into working conditions within the gig economy. We had 9 of our 11 recommendations incorporated in 19.2% increase on the number of Matthew Taylor’s final report, which was presented to accreditations awarded the the government. previous year Lord Justice Jackson released his report on Fixed Recoverable Costs (FRCs), launching it at the Law Society. The report took on board several recommendations we Abroad made in previous calls for evidence and consultation Proud of our global legal centre responses. He scaled back his original plan to fix recoverable We have been campaigning to promote England and costs for all civil claims up to the value of £250,000. We Wales as a global legal centre. This continuing campaign argued at the time that the one-size-fits-all approach would highlights the benefits of the law of England and Wales, the not work, and any change would require careful adjustments judicial system and our world class legal profession. to balance court costs with access to justice. Many senior practitioners have given their support in a Accreditations series of promotional videos, which include solicitors from Our accreditation schemes are our recognition of the Roche, Hinduja, Allen & Overy and Morrison & Foerster. expertise of scheme members in different areas of law. These can be viewed on our YouTube channel. The Through consultation and research with our members, we Chancellor of the High Court, Sir Geoffrey Vos, spoke at our identified areas where they sought accreditation to reflect launch event for the campaign, which was attended by over their expertise and experience. In response, we launched 60 senior representatives of the profession. three new accreditations. The Occupational Injury and Catastrophic Injury Accreditations were launched, alongside Opening new markets for English and Welsh solicitors the Mental Capacity (Welfare) Accreditation. to practise We continue to review our existing schemes, such as our China Family Law, Immigration and Lexcel Accreditations, to In China, we strengthened links with Chinese counterparts ensure they remain relevant and valued by the membership. including the China Law Society, All China Lawyers Following consultation with members, we decided to close Association and the Ministry of Justice. We gained access the Civil and Commercial Mediation Accreditation and the to the most senior legal adviser to Xi Jinping, ranked in the Planning Law Accreditation as they were no longer relevant top 25 of the 70 million strong Chinese Communist Party, to to practitioners.