SMEs make a massive contribution to the economy and represent almost half the country’s private sector turnover with a combined annual turnover of £1.8 trillion, sustaining about 60% of all private sector jobs. According to a recent survey, only 13% regarded lawyers as cost effective and almost half would only use legal service providers as a last resort. Our Founder, veteran lawyer and SME champion Lynne Brooke says law firms need to re-establish trust with small and medium-size enterprises by providing cost effective and client focused services that actually support them.
The devastating financial impact of Covid-19, with a total anticipated cost to UK SMEs exceeding £69 billion, and the new rules around Brexit, mean now more than ever, companies need effective business and legal advice to help them survive. The legal sector will need greater aptitude for business to solve their client’s problems, and only in doing so, can lawyers expect improved trust in return. With the pandemic causing a crisis that affects so many lives and livelihoods in the SME sector, lawyers can now play a vital role in protecting the backbone of the country’s economy.
Seeking legal advice should never be seen as a last resort! We believe now it is more important than ever for lawyers to rekindle trust with the SME community. TBC works to achieve that by being business problem solvers, rather than just legal problem solvers. We use technology and virtual working practices to empower our multi-disciplinary network of lawyers and specialist business collaborators to help the SME sector and social enterprises grow and prosper.
There has been an emergence of New Model Law Firms disrupting the legal sector, providing greater choice and competition to businesses seeking legal advice. The law is broad and constantly evolving, and SMEs now need ‘a partner in law and business’ who is fairly priced, longevity focused on their business and trustworthy. Coupled with this, an increasing number of lawyers want to work within more rewarding and flexible structures, where their professional, financial, and personal ambitions can be met.
The Brooke Consultancy (TBC) was set up in 2009 to provide ‘Business Advice in the Round’, with the specific purpose of creating a law firm where SMEs can access collective business knowledge and legal expertise from a single trusted source and lawyers, freed from the burden of admin can enjoy all the benefits of operating as part of a multi-disciplinary team, without losing autonomy over their career and income.
The Brooke Consultancy is actively looking for lawyers of all experience levels and in all regions of the UK to join them.
* Source: Legal Services Board
** Source: Federation of Small Businesses
Winter 2021