THE public could suffer poorer standards of legal services under a radical shake-up in the industry, according to a leading Coventry lawyer.

Nick Button, senior partner at Button Legal, in Warwick Road, city centre, said that plans for alternative business structures (ABSs) and external investment in law firms could leave clients with a poorer standard of service.

The new legislation is due to come into force next October in England and Wales and will enable private equity firms and other investors to own and run legal practices. Currently, practices must be owned and run by qualified solicitors.

Mr Button, whose firm has been practicing in Coventry for 21 years, said the new legislation will present potential pitfalls on several levels.

“It’s fraught with danger because there’s a huge personal relationship that clients have with solicitors that will be lost,” he said.

“There are two elements to it. One, where the likes of supermarkets will be able to offer legal services and the second is allowing the external ownership of legal practices. There are dangers with both but the idea of supermarkets offering legal services is the cause for most concern.

“They won’t be touching the heavyweight stuff like commercial property of complicated divorces though. The sorts of areas of law they are going to look at will be wills, administration of estates and conveyancing. Many experienced lawyers would argue that clients are potentially not going to get the same level of service or expertise they would get from a local solicitor. By going to a supermarket I strongly suspect that you will not know who is going to be doing the work for you.

“Advocates of the new system have said it’s going to be a positive move in opening up the market but many in the legal services industry think it is one step too far.”

Button Legal was set up in 1988 and offers a range of services including conveyancing, commercial property, landlord and tenant issues, matrimonial law and debt recovery. It now has nine lawyers and 16 support staff.