Lawyers uncertain as a high-stakes election beckons

Given that the current Parliament seemed, even at its start, focused on when it would finish, it's understandable that there has been a sense of weariness regarding next month's election – one that has certainly been shared by the legal community. Yet by any objective yardstick – and particularly from the perspective of City professionals – the general election will be one of the most important the country has faced in the last 30 years.

For one, the change of an administration with 13 years and three election victories under its belt will always be significant in terms of policy. Likewise, the aftermath of the banking crisis has redrawn the political map in terms of state intervention in markets, taking once-unthinkable policies into the mainstream. Consider the election commitments of the main parties: global levies on banks, takeover reform and structural separation of retail and investment banking – this is radical stuff.

It is also a mark of how blase we have become that the enormous constitutional and electoral reforms on the table from all three parties have received so little media coverage. All this before you consider the eleventh-hour emergence of a genuine three-way contest in the wake of a strong showing from Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg in the first televised debate, and we could potentially be ushering in a new order in British politics.

But while it appears that the public has now engaged with the election, the legal profession still appears uncertain both of the political mood and what, if any, role it should play. On one hand, the profession has always been strongly represented in the political classes and makes advising on legislation its business. And yet, commercial law firms have generally failed to get anywhere near the level of engagement and influence seen in the accounting profession or at Wall Street law firms.

For those that wish to engage, there is plenty in the election directly affecting the profession, including the implementation of the Legal Services Act and promises of libel reform. And whichever party or coalition is installed after 6 May, it looks certain the UK is set for a new age of enforcement in which tougher regulation and oversight of business will dominate – a trend that will have a direct impact on lawyers' business.

City lawyers still instinctively veer to the Conservatives in greater numbers than the public, though with scarcely more enthusiasm. But politics these days are hard to pin down: Labour and the Conservatives have shifted left while the Lib Dems have moved right, a trend almost certain to be reinforced if the third party gets anywhere near power. It would seem a good time to revisit old assumptions – because one way or another, change is coming.

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