Presidents’ and Secretaries’ conference
There are more than 90 local law societies across England and Wales. Three of these – Birmingham, Bristol and Kent – predate the national Law Society, which was founded in 1825. Birmingham Law Society now has more than 5,000 members, while the Association of South Western Law Societies, comprising Monmouthshire, Bristol, Devon & Somerset, Plymouth, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire, and Cornwall law societies, has a combined membership of more than 10,000.
Jonathan Rayner
Some of the larger local law societies are based in conurbations with vibrant business communities offering ample scope for law firms to prosper; Manchester Law Society, for example, has 3,600 members. Others, such as Scarborough or Harrogate law societies, have smaller catchment areas. Despite this disparity, all local law societies face broadly similar challenges, including delivering value to members and championing diversity and inclusion. The online Presidents’ a
Solicitors are facing the hardest market for indemnity cover since demutualisation over 20 years ago, with some insurers seeking personal guarantees and demanding that policy excesses be paid into escrow.
Many firms continue to renew on the traditional 1 October date and industry experts say they must start preparing well ahead of time. Speaking at a
Gazette
roundtable on PII, Brian Boehmer, partner at broker Lockton, said: ‘The combined value of the claims of the few now outnumbers the premiums collected [from] the many, which goes against the premise of insurance.’
The Law Society is already reporting premium increases of 5-50% as ‘typical’, at a point when firm turnover is down 10% on average. Jason Butcher, client account manager at Wesleyan, said insurers are not competing on price: ‘The market across the board seems to be supporting pretty much common prices.’