Interview with LSG’s Nigel Walker Jennings

Nigel Walker-Jennings LLB (Hons) is an LLM Barrister, In-House Counsel & Director at the Legal Services Guild (LSG). In this interview with Today’s Wills and Probate he talks about his personal legal background, as well as outlining his market predictions and what to expect from LSG in 2017.

Nigel, how did you find your way into the legal sector?

“That’s a long story! I was a stone mason having served my time from the age of 14. It was by pure chance that (at the age of 28) I did a course on contract law for self-employed people at my local college. From that moment on my fate was sealed and after 6 years of studying full time and working full time I was called to the Bar. That was 17 years ago now.”

So, how did the development of LSG come about and for what reason was it formed?

“LSG was the organic conclusion of an idea that took several years to develop and changed as the legal services marketplace has changed. The premise of the Legal Services Guild is very simple. Its purpose is to allow those professionals that clients already consider their trusted adviser (Accountants, Will Writers, IFAs and existing legal practices), to be able to provide a much greater range of services.

“Being a Guild Member or Partner allows a business to either provide services (Partner) or tap in and use services (Member). This allows a wide range of legal services to be delivered in a face to face situation to a client with somebody they already know and trust, with the reserved activity elements of the services being provided by a Solicitor or Barrister.”

Does the company have a particular core ethos?

“Yes. It’s a bit old-fashioned, but it’s to put the client first! By that, we mean that a professional, trusted adviser will already have a relationship with his or her clients, and look at what should be done for a client and not just what can be done. That is why it makes logical sense to allow wide-ranging legal services that a client needs, to be delivered at the point in time they need them and by someone that they know and trust already.”

The success of LSG has been well recognised; what would you class as the biggest achievement to date?

“That’s a tough one to answer. From a Guild perspective, I would guess it’s the ability to get fellow professionals from different disciplines working together. As a Barrister, I have attended several business networking meetings with others where we all agreed it would be a great idea to work together, only for that never to happen due to workload. The Guild takes that desire and applies the other elements that make it work: training, opportunity, ability and time.”

Could you elaborate on the role of a Barrister Intermediary and how it developed?

“Several years ago (as part of the changes that were taking place), the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) allowed Solicitors into the one area that was exclusively for Barristers; that being advocacy.

“As a Solicitor, it is possible to train as an advocate that allows you to represent clients in High Court, Crown Court or Court of Appeal etc. The flip side of that coin was the Bar Standards Board (BSB) then allowed Barristers to be licensed for direct access – in other words to be instructed directly by members of the general public.

“Whilst this may seem attractive, Barristers are not trained in relation to customer service. I think the BSB realised this, as the rules say that a Barrister can take instruction directly from members of the general public, or through an intermediary source. A Barrister Intermediary is the trusted advisor for the client, whilst acting as the interface (via the Legal Services Guild) between the client and the Barrister instructed to provide the legal service.”

Are Barrister Intermediaries vastly different from Will Writers and Estate Planners?

“Being a Barrister Intermediary is very different. It is based on the provision of legal services. A Barrister Intermediary can train and be accredited in several other areas of law; for example, shareholder or partnership agreements, allowing them to provide a much wider service offering to their client base. They can also have access to over 380 Barristers and Solicitor Partners who work with the Guild, enabling them to deal with any legal issue that might arise for a client, and at any time.”

In addition to your legal expertise, do you enjoy any hobbies in your spare time?

“Whilst I would love to say I spend my spare time doing something dangerous like base jumping into crocodile infested rivers, I’m quite a dull fellow. Fishing is my passion and I go all over the world to indulge in my hobby. Also, I work with a couple of charities; I am a dementia champion with the Alzheimer’s Society and a volunteer with Age UK.”

We are interested to hear your views – how do you see the legal market at present?

“It’s an interesting question, as most view the legal market in a state of flux. However, there have been some large-scale surveys done that have established that less than 9% of people actually go to a Solicitor. The vast majority either go to a third party (such as their Accountant, IFA, Will Writer or other trusted adviser), try to deal with it themselves, or simply do nothing. The figures are even starker when you start to look at SMEs.

“So even though things are changing rapidly, we need to consider the majority of clients who feel they cannot approach a legal practitioner to deal with their needs. I think the legal services market is beginning to realise that the continual drive for efficiencies by putting in processes and streamlining their legal practice by making services available online for a client to interact with, is a limited offering, and clients need that face to face contact when it comes to important and emotive issues.”

So, taking the changes into consideration, do you see the market moving in a particular direction?

“I see the market beginning to understand that whilst driving technology forward in the provision of legal services, it is not a replacement for the good old-fashioned principles of delivering services to clients, and those services being delivered by someone they know and trust. 20 years ago this would have been by your high street Solicitor. However, due to competition, more and more legal firms specialise and it has become harder and harder to find that ‘general practitioner of law. To provide wide-ranging legal services on the high street has become almost impossible to achieve, and for most people having those services delivered by someone they know and trust is almost non-existent. The Guild is there to facilitate such an option.”

What is LSG’s plans for 2017?

“The Guild philosophy is very simple – do more stuff for your client! To enable that to happen we are introducing more legal services lines, more opportunities for additional revenue via non-legal services through its members and partners, and greater public awareness in regards to the quality of its members and services.”

For Will Writers who are considering becoming a member of the Guild, what would you say are the main advantages?

“The advantage for fellow professionals such as Will Writers, is they already own the legal services market, they just haven’t realised it yet. What they need to do is to be able to offer more of the services that their clients would trust them to deliver. They need to be delivered in a way that allows the client to access the widest range, be cost effective and delivered when they need them. To do that, a Will Writer needs to work with as many professionals as possible to offer the widest range as possible.

“The client needs to know that they can rely on the professional standing of the person they are trusting. The trusted adviser needs to operate to the highest professional level, with a Code of Conduct and quality standards that not only the clients can rely on, but service providers as well. By becoming a member of the Legal Services Guild, a Will Writer can expand his or her practice into other areas of law and become the clients go-to trusted person.

“For Will Writers, they have access to more service lines, better professional indemnity cover, the addition benefit of knowing their clients have legal expense cover should anyone challenge the clients planning, their own full legal services website and repeat income streams.

“Will writing is an unregulated area, and whilst Will Writers would agree to regulation being implemented, there is no current desire to do so. Working with the Guild allows Will Writers to work with Accountants, IFAs, Solicitors and Barristers who all have the same ethos to operate together under higher standards.”