When I sat down to write a blog in December 2019, reflecting on my first year as a consultant to the legal market, like almost everyone else, I never imagined what was ahead of us in 2020. So as I write this year's message of seasons greetings I want to pause for a moment to think of all of those that have died, lost friends and family, faced hardship on the front line of the fight against the virus and struggled to maintain an income in these difficult times. Approaching 70,000 dead in the UK and over 300,000 in the US tells its own shocking story.
There are other numbers that tell us how difficult our world is for so many people. Around 100,000 have died in wars and conflict in 2020. There are over 4 million stateless people in the world at present. Almost 10% of the world's population still lives on less that $1.90 a day - a number that rose in 2020. Bringing this closer to home, their are around 280,000 people in England that are homeless.
For me this Christmas is a good time to reflect on the awful impact of the virus and to remember that there are so many other problems that I might be just a bit too hardened against. Legal services can't solve all these problems but they can help in some. So, as some of my readers know, I give 5% of my profits to two charities. Profits from 2019 were
shared between Central England Law Centre and Each Other. This year I will do the same.
So Happy Christmas and seasons greetings to everyone. A particular thanks to all my clients, the great people I work with in those businesses and the many others that I collaborate with, chat to and learn from across the legal market, right around the world. Despite the pandemic and lockdowns, I have been lucky that my business has continued to thrive. The legal market is facing a new normal and many businesses are starting to develop new strategic directions. Regulatory change has increased opportunities in the UK and US, and the SRA's new path to qualifying as a solicitor presents more space for developing talent. The year ahead is as exciting for the legal market as it can be in such a difficult time, so I look forward to helping my clients seize the moment. A legal market that works more effectively for individuals and businesses is within reach in the UK and US.
I won't make any predictions for 2021, but I will be back blogging a little more frequently in the New Year. Current planned topics include the SRA's Solicitors Qualifying Examination; digital onboarding and better customer journeys; this month's Competition & Markets Authority report on the legal market; the evolution of legal regulation in the United States; and, the post pandemic legal market.
To finish with, here are links to two podcasts I have recently contributed to.
- with Alice Robinson of the Manchester Trainee Solicitor Group talking about SQE on
Spotify
and Apple - with Dr Cord Brügmann, a German academic, discussing regulatory reform available
here and starting 2m 27 seconds in.
Have a great Christmas break and see you for real next year!
