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attempt to recognise some of the changes which
are affecting law itself, and from an awareness
of such changes it may be possible to define the
work that will be available for the future. A high
percentage of the average solicitor's fees are con
veyancing
fees,
the earnings of solicitors who
practise mainly
in
the Glasgow Sheriff Court
being an obvious exception to this rule. It seems
generally accepted that, through time, the compli
cations of the present system of transferring land
\vill be simplified and with such long overdue
simplification must come a reduction in the fees
earned for that work. The effect of this on the
earnings of solicitors could, in time, be dramatic.
The last decade in Scotland has seen an increase
in the numbers of property agents who must al
ready have encroached on the business of buying
and selling properties, an area of work formerly
more or less exclusively handled by the solicitor
branch of the profession. Even the country districts
of Scotland have, within recent years, seen the
establishment of property agents. Such firms seem
to be aggressively managed and, with the removal
of the twenty partner restriction, it may be that
the large property groups will acquire smaller
firms throughout the country, operating them as
branch offices. Like the property agents, insurance
brokers have formed themselves into large groups,
also aggressive and well managed, and such insur
ance business as was formerly handled by solicitors
is gradually passing into their hands.
In
the
last decade
the Scottish banks have
established Trustee Departments. So far
these
departments seem to have made little impact. But
the efficient management of large trusts requires,
within a
law office, a considerable number of
skilled staff who are becoming increasingly diffi
cult to find. Further, the Capital Gains Tax and
other complex forms of taxation make it difficult
for the smaller office to provide an efficient trust
management service. Is it possible that, with their
larger staffs and with the benefits of the scale of
their operations, banks may, through time, be able
to give a more effective trust management service
than can be offered by the smaller firms of solici
tors? The larger firms should be able to organise
their trust departments just as efficiently as the
banks and will be able to afford high salaries for
staff and to purchase the most modern equipment.
There may be another reason why the banks may
score in this field. As has been mentioned above,
the population is more mobile than formerly. So
it is with capital. Heavy taxation will encourage
the wealthier families to set up trusts abroad. For
the average small firm of Scottish solicitors to
advise in these matters is out of the question. The
banks, with chains of branch offices throughout
the world, may find in this mobility of capital
an additional opportunity for the development of
their trustee departments. This
is certainly the
case in the United States of America, where trust
companies have developed a considerable skill in
the management of international funds.
The preparation of simple
trading accounts
was formerly undertaken by solicitors. Here again
the complexities of modern taxation have dis
couraged the profession from continuing with this
type of work, which has more or less been wholly
taken over by the chartered accountants.
Many contracts are now written in a standard
form and no legal advice is required in their pre
paration. An example is
the R.I.B.A. Building
Contract, a document of the greatest consequences
to the parties, yet rarely is a solicitor asked to
advise on its completion. In the event of a dispute
arising from such a contract, a solution is usually
provided by the architect concerned.
Does all this make depressing reading? Not in
the slightest! The Scottish solic tor has, for too
long, been a man of business. It was possible for
the man of business to develop a most attractive
relationship with his clients, advising them in all
matters, and himself seeking advice from others
as and when such advice was needed. The man of
business type of adviser developed because until
the twentieth century there was no other profes
sional businessman available. As other professions
have increased in influence so the special "Man of
Business" relationship has gradually modified. It
is folly to ignore this trend. There is some evidence
that the legal profession is seeking to reverse it
through the proposal that solicitors should now
be allowed to assume partners from
the other
established professions, such as chartered accoun
tants, surveyors and insurance brokers. Indeed if
solicitors wish to do this there seems no reason
why they should not be allowed to do so, and it is
interesting that the Prices and Incomes Board
Report encourages the profession to consider the
possibility of some closer association with other
professional groups. There are, of course, problems
such as the one of discipline. But such difficulties
could be overcome. However it is unwise to assume
that the other professions are going to stand by
and allow solic'tors to recapture the ground they
have lost simply by assuming members of those
other professions as partners. The other professions
are now too well entrenched in their own right.
Furthermore, the client, with his need for special
ised expertise, is of a mind to seek his specialised
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