Alternative business structures

A tax consultancy has set up an alternative business structure to create a “one-stop shop” for independent contractors seeking advice, saying ABSs had made the law more entrepreneurial.

Global law company Elevate is looking for more acquisitions this year after buying pioneering UK commercial law firm Halebury, which uses freelance lawyers to support in-house teams.

Alternative business structures operating in conveyancing are significantly more positive about their future than traditional practices as the number of firms in the field continues to fall.

A litigation-focused legal and accountancy alternative business structure, which opened for business this month, is set to benefit from an “explosion” in contested probate cases.

The founder of pioneering alternative business structure rradar has described innovation in the legal sector as “sweat, risk and stubbornness”. It is now lining up acquisitions to aid growth.

The Lord Chancellor yesterday hailed the impact of alternative business structures in driving competition and fostering innovation in the legal market.

The level of innovation in the legal market has “stagnated and fallen in some areas” in recent years, but there are a number of encouraging signs for the future, major new research has revealed.

A Court of Appeal judge has called on legal regulators to make public who owns alternative business structures to bring greater transparency to the personal injury market.

Gordon Dadds is set to become the largest listed law firm in the world by revenue after agreeing terms to acquire City practice Ince & Co for around £43m plus share options.

Private-equity backed industrial disease law firm Roberts Jackson has become the latest victim of the squeeze on personal injury practices, and was sold out of administration on Friday.

A global ‘enterprise legal services company’ that effectively owns a London-based ABS is set for massive growth after Europe’s biggest private equity house took a majority stake.

City law firm Rosenblatt has launched a standalone litigation funding business with an initial £2m cash injection from the money it raised from its stock exchange listing in May.

The Co-op has declared itself the largest provider of probate services in the UK as its financials continue to improve. Legal services turnover in the first half of 2018 was up 31% and profits quadrupled.

Simpson Millar has unveiled a five-year £50m growth strategy to become one of a handful of consumer legal brands, starting with the acquisition of Liverpool practice EAD Solicitors.

A US class action law firm has used a new platform created by an alternative business structure to fast-track its UK launch, Legal Futures can reveal.