Tesco law: Clementi and implications for law schools

The launch of legal services from Tesco coupled with the Clementi Review have potentially far reaching implications for law schools. In this article from the Autumn 2004 issue of Directions Chris Ashford (University of Sunderland) gives his view of future models of legal practice.

This article is based on a paper given at the 2004 annual conference of the Society of Legal Scholars.

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The Clementi Review, launched in October 2003, is intended to review the regulation of legal services. The same man who advised Conservative governments on British Telecommunications and electricity privatisation has now been given the task of reviewing the extent of regulation within the legal sector.

Any change in the way the legal profession is regulated has immediate repercussions for law schools in terms of who will control entry standards and training requirements for the legal profession, but also raises fundamental questions about the nature of lawyers of the future, questions which we as law teachers must grapple with.

Clementi points to a number of activities currently reserved for qualified individuals:

• conveyancing
• probate services
• immigration advisory services
• notarial functions
• conducting legal proceedings
• the right to represent a client in court/rights of audience

Conveyancing in particular is one area that may well have its regulatory status changed as a result of the Clementi process. Indeed, Clementi highlights five areas that may be provided by individuals who are not qualified lawyers at present, and a consideration of those areas might be an indication of the future that awaits other areas, such as conveyancing, that may join them:

• general legal advice
• drafting of wills
• estate administration
• advice and representation on employment issues
• claims management and claims assessment

‘Tesco law’ and legal education

We have already seen the growth in legal advice lines, often as part of a union or human resources package within firms. Often these phone services are staffed by undergraduate students or graduates.

We have also seen a growth in online will packages, where with just a few clicks people can purchase wills. Again, the people who often do much of the administration of these wills might be undergraduates or individuals in a ‘clerk’ or ‘paralegal’ role, who aim to progress on to being ‘lawyers’.

Most startling perhaps was the entry of Tesco into the legal marketplace in June 2004. Shoppers can now choose from groceries, finance and insurance, telecoms, wine, electrical goods, DVDs, flowers, books – and legal services. Great news folks, at the moment there are triple ClubCard points on many legal products! Now, when you divorce someone you can gain Air Miles too – what a great way to cure those post divorce blues! At £7.49 it almost seems too cheap not to get a divorce.

It sounds like a parody or perhaps some futuristic vision of lawyering, yet this is reality, not fiction.

Tesco Legal offers the chance to buy books and tool kits that can ‘avoid’ using lawyers or minimise their use. Indeed, the site opens with the strap line ‘Lawyers can be expensive – why not see if you can handle the problem yourself?’ We are told that the top 10 books at Tesco Legal are:

1. The Buy-to-let bible
2. Book-keeping made easy
3. Unmarried couples and the law
4. DIY separation & divorce
5. Employment law
6. Residential lettings
7. Tax answers at a glance
8. Personal injury claims
9. Buying bargains at property auctions
10. Nuisance neighbours

This is without doubt a first step for Tesco, and there is of course no guarantee that it will succeed as a service. However, for all those concerned with legal education, these developments are of interest and perhaps even alarm. Any reform and development in legal services that can dramatically change the nature of the legal profession will inevitably impact upon law schools and others involved in legal education.

Models of practice

Several models of practice have emerged as part of these changes in the delivery of legal services. The first, what might be termed a ‘referral model’, sees the client initially contacting a claims reception call centre or other intermediary point. This stage would then ‘refer’ the client on to a law firm.

Model A: the referral model

The ‘law firm’ could be an independent law firm or alternatively could be owned by another; for instance ‘New Claims Direct’ is actually owned by personal injury specialists, Russell Jones and Walker (RJW). Claims Direct itself operates as the ‘New Claims Direct’ as it offers RJW the chance to trade on a well known brand in a way that RJW could not. The claims reception may be operated by students on the Legal Practice Course, graduates or individuals with minimal legal training who may be seeking a career in the law.

The more radical model is what might be termed the ‘commoditised model’. This model sees a client liaising with a series of ‘legal clerks’ or ‘paralegals’, who may be graduates or more often 18 year old A level school leavers uncertain about their future career or seeking an alternative route into the legal profession that avoids going to university. This model can already been seen in operation at Irwin Mitchell, in the insurance part of the business and to some degree in low value personal injury work.

These legal clerks would then typically report to team leaders, often ILEX qualified or possibly graduates, who have often been ‘legal clerks’ or ‘paralegals’ prior to holding this position.

These team leaders would then report to the supervising lawyer. This is typically a graduate in the traditional sense, who has studied the Legal Practice Course before qualifying as a solicitor. However, this person, in addition traditional lawyering skills, increasingly requires management and marketing skills.

Model B: the commoditised model

Implications for teaching and training?

There are those who could conclude that such a model may lead to a reduction in demand for lawyers, with a devastating impact on law schools. Such a conclusion would, in my opinion be premature. A far more likely outcome is that the type of lawyer required will change. The sector itself is likely to continue to expand overall, particularly with new commercial players such as Tesco joining, but the demand for ‘lawyers’ in the traditional sense is likely to remain steady.

These lawyers though will increasingly require management and supervisory skills. They will, like never before, need marketing skills and fundamentally a commercial awareness and understanding. Such a demand may change the emphasis on vocation orientated law degrees and certainly makes Joint Honours with Business courses increasingly attractive for law schools.

The final model is the traditional model, still seen as the dominant model in the commercial sector – thus there will continue to be a demand for lawyers in the traditional ‘mould’ regardless of the outcomes of Clementi. This model sees the qualified lawyer working directly with their client.

Model C: the traditional model

The future of legal education

Any changes in the nature of lawyers are certain to add fuel to those who believe the future for law schools increasingly rests in Joint Honours programmes, which appear more attractive from an employability perspective. Equally, a move towards a Modern Legal Apprenticeship styled career structure creates opportunities for the legal profession, particularly in relation to foundation degrees.

Furthermore, it is not unthinkable that from within a working practice environment individuals will then go on to ‘study law’, with law becoming a postgraduate subject as it is in the US.

What is clear is that exciting opportunities are emerging for law schools, and we all need to be thinking more creatively about these emerging practice developments and their impact upon us as law teachers.

Last Modified: 4 June 2010