Ian Muirhead: Scene set for more effective adviser/solicitor links

Professional disciplines are converging, as the repercussions of the Legal Services Act are felt increasingly widely and the concept of ‘holistic advice' starts to take hold. The Solicitors Regulation Authority envisages "a market no longer defined by professional titles and one in which the artificial barriers created by those titles are breaking down rapidly". As a result of the Act, the legal market is up for grabs - and the big losers will be solicitors, who have not until now been exposed to competition and whose training encourages a degree of risk-aversion that militates against t...