AS 2018 drew to a close the Scottish Government issued its long-awaited response to Carnegie UK Trust chief executive Martyn Evans’s review of legal aid, announcing a three per cent increase to fee levels in the process.

For Alison Atack, president of the Law Society of Scotland, this was far from an end in itself, though, with legal aid - and reform of the system that governs it - set to again be a major preoccupation for the profession in 2019.

“Following publication of the Scottish Government’s response to the legal aid review we were pleased to see there is to be a 3% rise in the spring. However, this is just the start,” she said.

“It is essential that our legal aid system works for those who depend upon it in upholding their rights and the solicitors who provide this important service.

“Having regular, independent, evidence-based fee reviews will be vital to ensuring people can access the legal advice and representation they need when and where they need it now and in the longer term and we shall press for this to happen as soon as possible.”

Ms Atack also believes that the Roberton review of legal services regulation, which reported towards the end of 2018, will be the subject of much debate in the profession in 2019, not least because one of the main recommendations was that the Law Society and Faculty of Advocates should be replaced as the sector’s main regulators.

“We have long argued for the need to modernise the current structure, parts of which are almost 40 years old and are, quite simply, no longer fit for purpose,” Ms Atack said.

“While we strongly oppose the primary recommendation from Esther Roberton’s review, to create an entirely new regulatory body, we support many of the recommendations, a number of which are based on our proposals. We will continue to press for change to develop a regulatory system which supports Scotland’s legal sector, helping it to thrive in a highly competitive market, and which places consumer protections at its heart.”

Gordon Jackson QC, dean of the Faculty of Advocates, agreed that the fallout from both the Evans and Roberton reviews “are likely to dominate the legal landscape in the New Year”, with much debate on the subjects yet to come.

However, he noted that “we must never lose sight of the importance of maintaining access to justice for all those who need it, and for Scotland to have a legal profession of the highest standard which can hold its head up among any in the world”.

While it will be some time before the ultimate outcome of both reviews is known, Graeme McKinstry of McKinstry Practice Management noted that some firms, especially those operating at the smaller end of the profession, may have to pre-empt the changes they will eventually usher in in order to survive in the meantime.

“Commoditisation, robotics, artificial intelligence, the inevitable further increases in regulation, and competition from outside providers all present unprecedented threats to the traditional law firm business model with its historic client connections and more or less guaranteed income streams,” he said.

“For the professional and business-like solicitor in the high street, clients and the work will remain, and it will grow for the leanest and fittest who survive to provide quality services to an expanding market. But all those who make up the core of our profession and whose ambition is to thrive, not merely survive, in a challenging economy need to prepare for change and to implement change.”

Richard Masters of Pinsent Masons said that the same is true for firms operating at the largest end of the market, with those that are not able to offer artificial intelligence to clients “storing up problems for the years ahead”. “The use of artificial intelligence by law firms is no longer viewed as a luxury add-on service by clients, but a necessity,” Mr Masters said.