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Edmonds comes out fighting in defence of LSB
Friday, 27 April 2012It is far too early to talk about winding down the Legal Services Board, its chairman has argued, while also criticising the Law Society and Bar Council for their failure to embrace independent regulation quickly enough.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, diversity, internal governance rules, Legal Ombudsman, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, QASA, Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates
Posted in Latest news, Legal Services Board
Share and share alike
Friday, 27 April 2012Andrew Whitehouse of corporate finance house Smith Square Partners – which is targeting the legal market after tying up with ABS Advisory Partners – says that with consolidation set to accelerate, converting to a corporate structure is the best way for law firms to take advantage of it
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, corporate structure, Legal Services Act, mergers
Posted in Blog
New ABS targets joint ventures with insurers
Wednesday, 25 April 2012A law firm that aims to offer a white-label personal injury service to insurers and brokers yesterday became the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s fourth alternative business structure, and first in Wales.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, personal injury, referral fees, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Latest news, Market monitor
ABSs will spark City “litigation revolution” and de facto fusion, says SRA chief
Tuesday, 24 April 2012The UK is on the cusp of a “litigation revolution” involving boutique alternative business structures offering externally-funded contingency fee deals, according to the chairman of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, speaking at yesterday’s Legal Futures conference.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, bar standards board, contingency fees, Council for Licensed Conveyancers, ILEX Professional Standards, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Barristers, Latest news, Legal Executives, Other lawyers, Solicitors
Exclusive: corporate financiers enter market to target mid-market law firms
Thursday, 19 April 2012A team of senior corporate financiers has joined forces with a law firm management consultancy specialising in alternative business structures to target mid-market law firms, Legal Futures can reveal.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, corporate finance, corporate structure, mergers
Posted in Latest news, Market monitor
American bar ditches bid to introduce non-lawyer ownership of firms
Wednesday, 18 April 2012The American Bar Association has dropped plans for any changes to its policy prohibiting the non-lawyer ownership of law firms. Having rejected more radical ideas such as ABSs, it had proposed a form of legal disciplinary practice.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, LDP, legal disciplinary practice
Posted in Alternative business structures, Latest news
Two nations – divided by external ownership of law firms
Friday, 13 April 2012Many of the lawyers who have only just woken up to the prospect of non-lawyer ownership of firms (a sizeable group, I’d wager) generally react with horror. The argument I hear all the time – exemplified by the letter signed by nine general counsel in the US – is that it will dilute the professionalism of lawyers, damage the lawyer-client relationship and lead to dastardly non-lawyers strong-arming lawyers to put profit before ethics.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Co-op
Posted in Blog
Non-lawyer ownership of law firms “will do a disservice” to clients, claim top general counsel
Wednesday, 11 April 2012Any form of non-lawyer ownership of law firms is bad for clients, nine leading general counsel have claimed. The group of US-based in-house lawyers said they also detected no great interest in or need for non-lawyer ownership.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures
Posted in Alternative business structures, Latest news
News round-up: would-be ABS expands, HSBC publishes panel criteria, and much more
Thursday, 5 April 2012Our regular round-up of news includes Quindell Portfolio’s latest acquisition, Simmons & Simmons moving City work to Bristol, the SRA’s City adviser joining Obelisk Legal, the Law Society withdrawing its PII broker list, and much more besides.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Bar Council, conveyancing, conveyancing quality scheme, Council for Licensed Conveyancers, Financial Services Authority, Law Society, legal process outsourcing, LPO, professional indemnity insurance, pupillage, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Market monitor, News In Brief
Exclusive: SRA bids to increase its power to fine law firms – from £2,000 to £250m
Friday, 30 March 2012The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s is planning to increase its power to fine law firms from £2,000 to £250m, and to £50m for individuals, Legal Futures can reveal. The Law Society has described the move as “misconceived”.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Latest news, Solicitors
Blog
Mind the (justice) gap: Why are RTAs going up but claims still down?
The gap between the number of road traffic accident injuries and the number of motor injury claims continues to widen, according to the latest government data.
Five key issues to consider when adopting an AI-based legal tech
As generative AI starts to play a bigger role in our working lives, there are some key issues that your law firm needs to consider when adopting an AI-based legal tech.
Bulk litigation – not always working in consumers interests
For consumers to get the benefit, bulk litigation needs to be done well, and we are increasingly concerned that there are significant problems in some areas of this market.
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