Money makes the world go around

“But when hunger comes a rap, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, at the window

See how love flies out the door”

THE LYRICS come from the Oscar-winning film musical Cabaret; the number, a satirical swipe at the possible social repercussions of economic decline and resulting hardship.

See where this is going?

Not, you will appreciate, that I am predicting social unrest akin to 1931 Berlin for 2009 London or New York, or indeed our (new-ish) global, and apparently really rather fragile economic landscape. In any case, the commentators seem quite divided over whether recession, painful as it is, is ultimately better or worse than boom times at fostering more of the milk of human kindness in us all.

But ‘money, money’ has certainly been transformed into a political hot potato of late, a war of words recently erupting over any ‘moral’ lessons to be learnt from the mountain of global debt that arguably led to last summer’s financial meltdown. Capitalism may have been saved from collapse, but it has also been given quite a rough ride for its alleged sins.

Clearly timed for Christmas reflection, in December a number of leading Bishops in the UK added to the clamour, claiming the Labour government had to shoulder not just political, but also moral responsibility for the current economic situation.

The case, succinctly put by Bishop of Manchester the Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch to The Sunday Telegraph, was that the government had been “beguiled by money” and was “morally corrupt”.

Strong words – and unsurprisingly disputed by those in the dock. But expect to see the ‘values’ debate raised again and again as the reality of recession really bites.

Meanwhile, the news from the legal world in the run up to Midwinter was aptly bleak. Another Christmas cutback. Another profit slump. Another (and in some cases another) redundancy consultation.

However, one story really stood out – if sadly, again, for far from positive reasons. UK law firm Beresfords partners Jim Beresford and Douglas Smith were found guilty of misconduct in their handling of compensation payments for ill miners by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), including failing to act in those clients’ best interests. They were also struck off and ordered to pay costs.

The story behind this had rumbled on for years – starting before I became editor of this magazine – and Beresford himself had previously been reported to be one of the very richest solicitors in the whole of Britain.

In the tribunal the partners had argued there was “absolutely nothing wrong” with earning substantial fees from their work; a point of view dismissed, in the event, by tribunal chairman David Leverton, who said those fees were “unacceptable”.

It should be stressed, as the firm makes clear in a recent statement, the pair “continue to strenuously deny all the allegations”. Nevertheless, the story got me thinking about the term ‘client care’, discussed so often in these pages.

Unlike ‘client relationship management’ or even ‘client service’, clearly business imperatives in these difficult times, ‘client care’ speaks more to the notion, and duties, of the lawyer as professional adviser to society.

With the pressures applied by the Legal Services Act much has been written in this magazine about the professional’s need to be more businesslike to compete effectively – including making firms financially attractive to potential external investors. But after a year that has not exactly made good PR for business at large, it can’t hurt to remember what marks the professional out as different too.

I hope 2009 has started well for all our readers around the world – and I would be delighted to hear from you with any stories, news or views as the year unfolds. As always, I can be reached at rbrent@ark-group.com.

Richard Brent, Editor

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By Richard Brent