The Law Society, if nothing else, is a decent host and members attending the special general meeting (SGM) on Tuesday were treated to KitKats among the refreshments on offer. Appropriately enough they were the two-finger variety, which is certainly the gesture some see the vote of no-confidence in president Nick Fluck and chief executive Des Hudson to be. But for all the headlines of chaos at Chancery Lane and supposed pressure on the pair to resign, I believe the reality is that the SGM vote will have negligible impact, at least in the foreseeable future

Have you read last month’s Legal Services Board (LSB) report that found the Bar Council encroached the Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) regulatory independence? I doubt it; it’s a lengthy document and it’s taken me three weeks to find the time. But for those questioning the continuing need for the LSB – chief among whom are, of course, the Bar Council and BSB – it is a must-read.

So you’re coming to the end of your first year as COLP and things haven’t gone too badly so far, but don’t count your chickens (or geese) yet. Danger lies ahead – the Christmas season looms. Now’s the time to earn your compliance officer stripes; let’s risk assess the joy out of Christmas, snuff out spontaneity and spread caution amongst your fellow man.

If anyone wanted to see what alternative business structures can achieve, they need look no further than Slater & Gordon. If you take into account the sum announced as going towards buying Simpson Millar – a deal currently on ice – S&G has committed around £150m towards its UK expansion since first announcing the acquisition of Russell Jones & Walker in January 2012. Could it have achieved this without being a listed company? I’m no financial expert, but I doubt it; raising money through share issues has been key, although debt levels are up sharply as well.

Recent press coverage has suggested that it’s a sellers’ market for personal injury caseloads, with acquirers queuing up. Sellers just don’t realise it, and consequently don’t receive a fair value for their files. I would like to offer a more balanced view and suggest this is something of a misnomer and can in fact be quite damaging to sellers. There may well be a significant number of firms aspiring to be acquirers out there, but the reality is the vast majority of these are either day-dreamers or tyre-kickers.