CLS goes up against QualitySolicitors with bid to forge 3,000-strong legal team across 360 branches

The Co-operative has laid down the gauntlet to QualitySolicitors in the battle to dominate the UK retail legal market with the announcement last week (24 May) that it will create 3,000 new legal jobs at a range of new bases across the UK.

Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) is set to roll out its offering to all of its 330 high street outlets, following a successful pilot of the scheme last year. The move places it in direct competition with QualitySolicitors' nationwide total of 360 branches, although Co-op deputy group chief executive Martyn Wates (pictured) argues that a franchise cannot rival the Co-operative model.

Wates said: "What we will offer is consistent quality at a good price. How do you do that? Through good systems and good training. I don't see how you can do that with a franchise. Where does the consistency in delivery come from?"

As part of the quality of service promise, CLS has also announced that it will train more of its own lawyers by dramatically increasing the number of in-house training contracts it offers. The business, which currently has around 450 staff, is intending to increase the number of training contracts it offers from 10 to around 100 as it grows headcount to its target of 3,000.

cls-v-qsCLS does not intend to recruit trainees directly from university, but will instead offer contracts to existing staff as part of their career development. This will include funding prospective lawyers through the legal practice course (LPC), while junior lawyers who have completed the LPC will also be taken on.

Last week's announcement also saw CLS unveil plans to build five new regional hubs to house its new staff. The new centres will be spread across the country in the northeast, northwest, southwest, southeast and the Midlands, with a Manchester arm the first new location in development.

A renewed push into the conveyancing market was also announced, as part of a wider plan to "support people through life's most stressful moments". Wates said: "What are the most stressful parts of life? Death, divorce, moving house. And what is it that is stressful? The lawyers. Corporate law firms work for themselves, not for the client or customer. Our research suggests that the [legal] profession is condescending to customers. The Co-op was founded because consumers were being ripped off. That is exactly what [the CLS] is all about [changing]."

The news comes after CLS became one of the first three alternative business structures to be licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in March this year, a move which allows it to offer a range of consumer legal services previously only available from private solicitors.

The business last year unveiled plans to launch a family law operation in London during 2012, while it is also set to offer services including will writing, probate and estate administration, personal injury claims and employment law advice.

Co-op managing director Eddie Ryan, who is set to retire in the summer, added: "Twenty million people go into a Co-operative shop every week. If I put a sign in each shop I will reach these people. If I put a sign in the window I reach further still. We have a food shop in every postcode in the UK."