Work those ABS: the outlook for Co-operative Legal Services

The Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) was among the first of the new influx of alternative business structures (ABS) into the legal sector in April 2012, and though many more ABS applications have been lodged since, CLS looks set to be one of the pre-eminent legal services providers in coming years.

The entry of a very large national consumer group into the legal services market should naturally command the attention of aspiring lawyers - CLS may become one of the legal profession's biggest employers, certainly in terms of high street practitioners. Before Christmas, LC.N spoke to CLS's commercial director, Bob Labadie, about the prospect of training and employment opportunities over the next few years, as well as the role that CLS envisages for itself in a changing legal profession.

CLS has been running a limited number of in-house training contracts for the last two years, but the number may soon grow. "We were restricted by our regulatory position as we waited for the development of the ABS model," explains Bob. "Now, we're actively looking at all aspects of legal training and career advancement. A significant part of that process will be expanding the number of training contracts that we offer." However, this will not be happening immediately, as CLS looks to consolidate its position after a period of rapid expansion into a new sector. "At the moment, we're focusing on existing staff," Bob confirms. "We have grown into quite a large business already, which employs over 500 bright, promising people who have been very loyal to us as the business has grown. We want to reward them with training contracts as much as we possibly can. However, when we move forward into another period of expansion, we will look to recruit externally from among the brightest and the best."

Clearly, CLS is carefully considering how best to recruit and train its future lawyers, with plans for its own legal academy already taking shape. "We're taking a holistic approach," Bob explains, "and will make sure that our recruits begin training at the right level, with a healthy and effective mix of external and internal training. We're very excited about plans to develop our own legal academy, where we will help to train and develop both aspiring lawyers who are just starting out, and lawyers who may already have some experience." CLS is also forging strong working relationships with barristers' chambers across England and Wales, though as yet it has no plans to employ an in-house set.

Aspiring lawyers will also be interested by the possibility that CLS will look to expand its core practice areas in coming years, though these will still largely fall under the category which is known in the organisation as 'consumer law'. "That means legal services that meet the needs of the individual, whether that be to do with a will, a probate matter or an employment claim," says Bob. "Going forward, we will undoubtedly look to expand our range of services; we are particularly looking at services to help smaller businesses, as well as some niche areas like housing. However, these are plans for the longer term; our short to medium-term focus remains consumer legal services."

The ambition to provide a comprehensive legal service to the public also extends to the national scale that befits The Co-operative Group's other businesses, as Bob illustrates: "We plan to expand, but there are obviously issues with different jurisdictions in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have to be considered. Scotland is going through its own ABS revolution, so we’ll first need to see how the system works in practice. We would very much like to have a presence in both jurisdictions, but the situation currently remains unclear. The Co-operative Group's businesses are all national business with a national market share, so it’s important that we also provide legal services on a national scale in order to properly serve our members and customers."

CLS should certainly be on the radars of those considering careers in 'high-street' law, as it looks to be on course to becoming a leading national provider of these kinds of legal service. However, Bob does not agree that the entry of well-financed ABS organisations into the profession will necessarily bring about the wane of the high-street law firm: "Legal services will always be delivered in many different ways by many different types of organisation, big and small. There is room in the marketplace for these different business models. The challenge to the high street remains to deliver good customer service and a service or product that people want to buy." It’s a reasoned and reassuring thought, but the most important point for career seekers to take away from this is that the future could hold great employment opportunities for those wishing to practise these areas of law.