There's a great discussion going on over on LinkedIn about whether the Law Society are going to ban referral fees (again). Go take a look and participate, there are some great comments from practitioners and consultants.
Here's a repost of my comment.
As a business owner myself I find the idea of the Law Society banning referral fees to be completely ridiculous.
We have business relationships here at Conscious Solutions where we pay fees to people who refer us law firms who become our clients. There law firms have the choice of many website providers, but they choose to come to us. We are always upfront about which relationships we "pay for" and which we just have for "the greater good".
of the key points made above by Charles Layfield from Pannone, is to ensure that there is a level playing field between law firms and the inevitable new, non law firm, entrants into the legal services market.