ABSTRACT
The Legal Services Act 2007 (the Act) heralded one of the biggest shake-ups of the legal profession in its history. The Act was already beginning to impact on law firms, with the big law firms thinking ahead on how to become more competitive, but with the onset of the worst global recession since the Great Depression, the changes to legal aid and conditional fee arrangements, it meant that, for many lawyers, it was not just a matter of how to become more competitive and meet the challenges that could be presented by the Act, but of how to survive. Efficiency, fee flexibility, client service and regulation have jumped up the agenda for legal organizations and preparations have already been made to embrace or, as some may see it, withstand the impact of the Act. For some it has simply been a waiting game or a possible ‘head in the sand’ game but for many it has been a time to contemplate a very different future legal market.
