With the Legal Services Act having started opening up the legal profession and legal services, lots of players are gearing up to the enter the market and there are some very innovative solutions being offered.

In the latest of the new ways of delivering legal advice is a Skype-style video conferencing kiosk which is being piloted in a shopping centre in Peterborough. Telephone legal advice has been around for many years and on a personal level, we doubt this idea will take off, primarily as we don’t see a huge difference between this service and the telephone advice lines that have previously been tried and failed and which are not part of an overall benefits package sold through a Union for example (where the benefits are clear as the service is simply included within a range of benefits at a yearly, affordable price..

Legal services and legal advice are very personal issues and there may also be issues as to the status of brief advice given over either the telephone or video. We would have thought that solicitors who may agree to give the advice will want to be very careful in making it clear that there are limitations to a short advice session, there might be regulatory issues for the solicitors to consider and there are few legal matters which can be assisted in a meaningful way within a £30.00 phone call over 20 minutes. This is just our view, we may well be wrong and good luck to the service providers, Instant Law UK .

Apparently, the service will also be available to the public at home, using a software download. In terms of practice areas, we understand these to include family law, personal injury, immigration and employment.