The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown has had a huge impact on businesses in the UK over the past two months. No sector has been left unaffected by the situation, and that includes the legal industry.
A recent survey by the Law Society has revealed the extent to which the legal profession is facing unprecedented challenges as the coronavirus situation continues to affect our daily lives. As a result, it has been predicted that as much as 70% of high-street law firms could face closure following a dramatic change in income for some. That is almost 3 out of every 4 firms.
At Farleys, we have worked hard to adapt and modify at a rapid speed allowing us to continue to work through the COVID 19 outbreak. Commitment to our clients and their cases has been unflawed and our standards remain.
A multitude of changes have been made throughout our daily life to allow work to continue throughout this pandemic. It is anticipated that some of these changes may have long lasting effects and continue long after this pandemic is over. As we have afore alluded to, this is not the first crisis Farleys has seen and in our usual stoic fashion we embrace the changes that this brings.
However, this is not the case for many other practitioners with predictions expecting thousands of high-street and sole practitioner firms may shut within 6 months as a result of the crisis. The Law Society suggests that many firms could be put out of business as early as this Autumn. The Law Society President, Simon Davies commented that the ‘shock to the legal service sector had been sudden and severe.’
We have also heard reports of clients attempting to contact their solicitors but without success. This can bring uncertainty in terms of files not been worked on but also from a litigation point of view, dates may not have been acted upon during this period of time. Clients may ask themselves where this leaves them. Does this mean they can no longer pursue a case? What happens if their instructed solicitor does go out of business?
If you feel you do need to change solicitors, you will need to instruct a firm which will be able to take over your case professionally and smoothly to prevent any further delays or issues. Here at Farleys we are seeing increasing amounts of clients transferring their cases to our specialist personal injury team to ensure that they receive the personal service that they deserve, particularly during the current situation.
If you have been unable to contact your solicitor during the crisis and/or feel like you may have a negligence claim against your solicitor, please contact Farleys Solicitors on 0845 287 0939 or submit your enquiry through our online contact form and a member of the team will be in touch with you.
