Online wills – spinning a web of problems?

The issue that worries me is quality.

There is a difference between good customer care and good legal advice.  If you are buying a product, the product is reasonably easy to evaluate and customer service is one of the attributes of the product that makes it attractive or not.

Price is also a key element.  I’m happy to fly Ryanair for short trips as it’s cheap and I know the core service is good (their planes are safety checked by various bodies) but I know their customer service (how can I put this in a non-defamatory way) is to a different standard.  If I am buying conveyancing I need to be reasonably sure I will own my house at the end.  The conveyancer is insured so I am reasonably safe buying on price.

Will writing is more complex.  There have been a number of cases recently of non-qualified will writers getting it horribly wrong.  The person’s wishes would then not be carried out after their death.  I acted for some clients who had bought a Limited Liability Partnership Agreement off the internet.  It was fine in many ways, but it did not cover the one area that they needed – what to do if they fell out.  They did fall out and the agreement was of no use.  A good solicitor would have known that and made sure there was a deadlock clause in the agreement.

The idea of having lawyers check documents downloaded is clever and may well be a good half way house.  A good algorithm may well work through a number of complex what-if scenarios to import the right clauses to a will or a partnership agreement, but an experienced lawyer may be able to get there quicker.

I think simple services will be commoditised.  Consumers need to be sure they are getting what they think they are getting.  A will is not a tin of beans.

Access to Justice – the right of every citizen

Martin Coyne - Managing Partner

By Martin Coyne – Managing Partner

In January 2010 the Report by Sir Rupert Jackson was published recommending far reaching reforms of the civil justice system. An election was looming, and this topic was not contained within either the long or short manifesto of the Conservative Party. The generally feeling was that the Jackson Report would be confined to the long grass and would not be on the top of the political agenda.

Astonishingly, in the early summer of 2010, the Prime Minister had a pop at the none existent “compensation culture” and wheeled out Lord Young to investigate reform of health and safety legislation and this alleged culture. The Young Report was published in November 2010 almost contemporaneously with the Civil Justice Green Paper which echoes many of the suggested reforms of Lord Justice Jackson.

At a private dinner during the MASS conference in Manchester, the Access to Justice Action Group (AJAG) was formed. Andrew Dismore was hired. Andrew was an MP for 13 years and a solicitor and partner for over 20 years at Thompson’s and Russell Jones and Walker. He was available, and together with Tom Lavelle, set about with myself and principally Darren Werth and others in establishing AJAG. Read more »

Deborah Rainford elected as MJCC President

(L-R) Adrian Anderson, Deborah Rainford, Stephen Fox

Solicitor Deborah Rainford has been appointed as president of the Manchester Junior Chamber of Commerce to lead the organisation’s ambitious growth plans.
 
Deborah, a specialist in business law at Manchester law firm Ralli, was officially appointed as President at the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting on 22nd April 2010.
 
Her plans include to increase individual and corporate membership, raise the profile of the organisation and position the Chamber as an essential resource for the business community in Manchester. Read more »