Tag Results
Consumer confusion boosts case for strict controls over unreserved work
Monday, 14 March 2011New consumer research from the Solicitors Regulation Authority has strengthened the case for stringent controls of law firms and alternative business structures which seek to hive off unreserved legal work to an unregulated business.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, reserved legal activities, separate business rule, Solicitors Regulation Authority, unregulated providers
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
Is 6 October as ABS day under threat?
Friday, 11 March 2011It’s always a dilemma as to when to go into print with rumour that nobody will confirm on the record but this is too important not to, especially as I’ve been asking around on it and so am not just relying on one source. But I should stress that it remains a rumour.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board
Posted in Blog
CLC warned over allowing ABSs to dodge regulation of unreserved legal work
Friday, 11 March 2011The Council for Licensed Conveyancers’ bid to license alternative business structures could allow firms to dodge regulation of their unreserved legal work, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has warned.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Legal Services Consumer Panel
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Other lawyers
Revealed: solicitors set for poll in last-ditch bid to derail SRA as ABS regulator
Thursday, 10 March 2011Sole practitioners are set to requisition a special general meeting of the Law Society and a postal vote of all solicitors in a bid to overturn Chancery Lane’s support for alternative business structures (ABSs) and wreck the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become an ABS regulator, Legal Futures can reveal.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
The lawyer will see you now: is “GP Law” the future for the high street?
Wednesday, 9 March 2011The future for high street lawyers is to evolve into a relationship manager who can direct clients to find the right advice from a range of legal and non-legal sources, the managing director of LexisNexis in the UK has said.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures
Posted in Alternative business structures, Market monitor, News
60% of people would buy legal advice from brands like Barclays, AA, Co-op and Virgin
Tuesday, 8 March 2011Three in five consumers would consider buying legal services from a range of consumer brands, a major piece of market research from YouGov has revealed. The work also found low recognition of any current legal brands, while a third of consumers said they would be attracted by online legal services.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Co-op, QualitySolicitors
Posted in Alternative business structures, Market monitor, News
News in brief: larger firms cool on ABS, LPO boost, women suffer on pay and more
Tuesday, 8 March 2011Our latest round-up of other news of interest to Legal Futures readers includes a survey of among larger firms about ABS intentions, a lay majority on the BSB, women lawyers convinced male colleagues are paid more, good news for a big LPO provider and much more.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, bar standards board, equality and diversity, internal governance rules, legal process outsourcing, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel, LPO, professional indemnity insurance, Scotland, Technology
Posted in Barristers, Market monitor, News, News In Brief, Outsourcing, Solicitors
SRA: impact of ABSs on small firms may not be as bad as feared
Monday, 7 March 2011Alternative business structures (ABSs) “may not be as big a threat” to small firms as some fear, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has suggested. A draft impact assessment also argued that ABSs could help equality and diversity in the legal profession by breaking the traditional partnership model that has held it back.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, equality and diversity, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
Better the ABS devil you know?
Thursday, 3 March 2011“Better the devil you know” is the phrase I keep hearing on the subject of whether the Law Society council will approve the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become an alternative business structure licensing authority.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Blog
SRA will reject restrictions on its ability to regulate ABSs, says Townsend
Wednesday, 2 March 2011The Solicitors Regulation Authority will rebuff any efforts to restrict its ability to regulate alternative business structures (ABSs) that are 100% owned by non-lawyers, its chief executive has said. There are suggestions of a compromise on its ABS licensing application that would mean the SRA not regulating ABSs that are wholly externally owned, at least initially.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Legal Services Act, Legal Services Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board, News, Solicitors