Hair salons offered a cut of solicitors' fees

Marketing at its best.
Taken from the Times.

A FIRM of solicitors is offering hairdressers cash to refer customers who reveal that they have marital problems. But one hairdresser has criticised the idea as unethical and refuses to help.

Steve Hall, who received a letter from Trethowans, in Salisbury, said that he was shocked at being told that he could get £75 a time to refer clients.

The firm has defended its referral scheme, insisting that it does not break any rules or guidelines. It says that several hairdressers are willing to take part.

The £75 fee is payable when the courts grant a decree nisi or upon the agreement of a separation deed.

Mr Hall, who runs Heaven Hair in Salisbury, said: “The letter goes on about how we get to build up a level of trust with our customers, but then asks us to sell it to them.”

Bryn Hughes, marketing director at Trethowans, said: “This is an ethical and legal way of trying to improve the profile of our family law team locally. It’s not widespread. I have heard of other practices using it but not in our geographical area. We can appreciate that it’s not suitable for everybody, but it’s just a different sort of advertising. It’s the same as a mortgage broker.”

Law Society to name new arm ‘Solicitors Regulation Authority’

Taken from LegalWeek:

The Law Society is poised to rename its regulatory arm ‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority’, or the ‘SRA’ for short, Legal Week has learnt, as Chancery Lane gears up for the next stage of its post-Clementi split.

Chancery Lane’s Regulation Board met this week to thrash out the details of the proposals, which include provisions for new marketing material, as well as a fresh logo. The new SRA emblem is likely to feature a circle of red dots.

The Law Society’s 16-member Corporate Governance Board looks set to approve the plans today (21 September).

The rebranding is scheduled to go live in January 2007 when a website will also be launched.

The changes mark the latest stage of an ongoing shake-up at Chancery Lane as it prepares for the introduction of the new regulatory regime that is set out in the Legal Services Bill.

Under the changes, the Law Society will continue to function as a solicitors’ representative body while the new-look SRA will handle regulatory issues, although a new umbrella Legal Services Board will ultimately be responsible for all legal regulation.

Complaints handling will continue to be channelled through the Consumer Complaints Service until an independent complaints handling body is set up as part of the Government’s reforms.

The choice of a new name for the regulation arm follows an extensive review of the society’s branding and profile that was undertaken by external consultants.

The Law Society also drafted in pollsters GfK NOP to conduct market research.

However, one council member told Legal Week: "I hate this money being spent on branding and marketing. It is trivial in comparison to the main issues at hand, the first and most important which is keeping this place running."

The ‘SRA’ moniker will be familiar to many as the acronym for the Strategic Rail Authority, the now-defunct government transport quango. The body was disbanded last year when most of its responsibilities were handed to the Department for Transport.