Personal injury news roundup: 7 days ended 18 Dec 2012:
It’s adapt or die, according to the new president of the Manchester Law Society, as he exhorted personal injury solicitors to embrace coming regulatory changes.
36 year old Sucheet Amin has succeeded Jeff Lewis in the position of president for the Society. Managing partner of a law firm that has successfully secured personal injury compensation payments of £2.9 million for clients since its founding in 2009, Mr Amin remarked that he was looking forward to the next 12 months of his term.
The coming year will bring many integral changes to the personal injury legal landscape due to changes in legal aid provision, said the new president. These changes will most likely have a negative effect on some legal firms, leading to shuttered doors or redundancies, yet Mr Amin said that these new legislative changes also bring an opportunity for growth for any legal practice that decides to embrace these new opportunities.
Mr Amin couldn’t offer any concrete predictions for how the new legislation will change the legal landscape, but he did say that opportunities will undoubtedly arise for any firm that decides to use external experts to facilitate growth. Alternative business structures, which have been around just a bit longer than a year, may end up being the way to go in the New Year, the president said, especially since the Manchester area has already seen some early adopters driving new business by embracing advertising and marketing to reach a higher number of potential clients.
In addition to his statements encouraging law firms to adapt to these new changes coming down the pike, Mr Amin also said that he wants to see younger legal professionals equipped with better financial and business skills in order to help them raise through the ranks. Lawyers are in need of solid financial and business fundamentals nowadays, the president said, and the Manchester Law Society wants to provide aid for developing the business development skills that are so important for successful career growth.