THE THOUGHT OF stepping into a lawyer's office, or even calling on the telephone to seek legal advice, is enough to make most people break out in a cold sweat.
Not only do lawyers often seem unapproachable, there is also the fear that an astronomical bill will begin to mount from the moment they pick up the phone.
As the legal profession debates how to tackle this problem, with all manner of proposals under consideration, one company is taking a novel approach which might just provide a solution.
LCP Limited is offering a service called LegalCare. It is the brainchild of longtime Hong Kong lawyer Gordon Oldham, who is making legal services available for a set fee, paid annually. It works in much the same way as medical insurance. Similar services have been available in the US and Europe for many years, but this is the first time it has been tried in Hong Kong.
'The dream is to get into the mindset of people that their lawyer is not some unapproachable god sitting in his Central office at unaffordable prices, but is there as your partner. You can ring him up and you won't get a bill a second later,' said Mr Oldham, a partner with law firm Oldham, Li and Nie.
But the company's unconventional approach has raised eyebrows among some lawyers. It has, for example, employed insurance agents, banks and estate agents to sell its service. And it does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Law Society.