Sheffield-based firm Irwin Mitchell has set up a national freephone service called Professional First Call for lawyers and other professionals who need legal advice.

Head of professional services Andrew Lockley said he had learned during his time as a Law Society director that there was a need for sound legal advice to be given to the very professionals whose job it was to give it.

“Professionals are notorious for not taking legal advice early enough in a dispute, often because they do not always know where to go for help,” he said. “This service is not just for solicitors, it is for professionals generally. It is the only free phone for professional people.”

Lockley will lead a team of five lawyers who will deal with financial and insolvency problems, internal disputes, problems with professional bodies, challenges to professional competence and allegations of criminal conduct. The initial consultation will be free.

Lockley did not think the setting up of the freephone was necessarily a reflection that more lawyers were finding themselves on the wrong side of the law. But Irwin Mitchell was confident that its service would be well used by lawyers.