Lawyer Monthly Magazine - April 2019 Edition

advice in relation to unfair and/ or wrongful dismissal claims. The intention behind the SRA’s rules The stated aim of the new rules is to ensure consumers have the information they need to make an informed choice as to their legal services provider, including understanding what the likely costs of a matter might be. According to the SRA, one- quarter of all complaints dealt with by the Legal Ombudsman relate to costs. In approving the SRA’s proposals, the Legal Services Board stated that the new rules should also help to promote competition and contribute to improving access to justice. The legal sector still adopts a very traditional (and guarded) approach to pricing. The new rules are intended to inform a client’s expectations in terms of pricing, at the outset of a matter. Over time, new clients are likely to place greater emphasis on pricing when choosing a lawyer than they may have done previously. Clients may also adapt the way in which they actively search for an adviser; it is now second nature for consumers to refer to price comparison websites when choosing certain service providers. Many law firms don’t welcome price transparency It is striking that the majority of respondents to the SRA’s consultation did not agree with the price transparency proposals. This is because many firms adopt a “producer knows best” mindset and would prefer opacity. Many law firms resent what they see as an unnecessary exercise in transparency and compliance. And it is certainly the case that their response to the SRA proposal is underwhelming: an initial trawl of competitor websites demonstrates that many employment law firms have not provided remotely comparable information on pricing to ours. We have published hourly rates and a detailed grid of expected charges in a typical Employment Tribunal claim. Few other firms have done this. On the contrary, their guidance, on Tribunal pricing, is either too general (or vague) to be helpful, or non- existent. But some law firms embrace price transparency For Constantine Law, however, Since being founded in 2015, Constantine Law has re-en- gineered the way that legal services are delivered. Our approach enables us to pro- vide our expert employment and business immigration lawyers at 60% of the cost of traditional firms. We achieve this by being, like our clients, highly entrepreneurial: we work to a lean business mod- el which delivers a smarter, more responsive service to our clients. We eliminate most of the fixed costs of many firms. Our lawyers work to an agile working model, using a host of cloud based solutions: both for case man- agement and managing our internal business processes. FIRM PROFILE price transparency is an important exercise in client engagement. We have provided more information in relation to Employment Tribunal claims than any other firm that I know of. We saw the SRA rules, not as a threat but as an opportunity to differentiate ourselves from the competition. Since being founded in 2015, Constantine Law has re-engineered the way that legal services are delivered. Our entrepreneurial approach enables us to provide first-class employment and business immigration lawyers at 60% of the cost of traditional firms. We achieve this by working to a lean business model, eliminating most of the fixed costs of many firms, using smart technology and offering innovative pricing structures. The main beneficiary to our new way of working is the client, and our approach stands in stark contrast to most of the profession. With research conducted by YouGov and Europe Economics for the SRA confirming that 68% of small businesses identify potential cost as a barrier to using professional legal services, the new SRA rules can benefit firms that are brave and transparent on pricing. LM APR 2019 55 Thought Leader www. lawyer-monthly .com