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The changing client

06 August 2009 / Tony Williams
Issue: 7381 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Profession
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Lawyers & law firms need to adapt to meet the needs of a more demanding client base, says Tony Williams

Law firms have had to anticipate and respond to the needs of their clients in order to stay in business.

This is as true in the high street as in the major city firms. It is even more the case today when, for the first time in a generation, we face an oversupply of lawyers.

This change is going to force law firms to understand how they are perceived by their clients, why their clients choose to use them and what causes a client to move to another law firm.
 

At a retail level, we live in a consumer society. We are used to being able to shop around, to compare products, have clear pricing and recourse to effective customer service teams to deal with any problems that arise. The interests of the consumer are key to the Legal Services Act, which is built on the principle of putting the consumer first.

Moving

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

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The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
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