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A Canadian report on alternative business structures has issued a cautious verdict on majority non-lawyer ownership, judging the model to be as yet unproven, based on the experience so far in England and Wales and Australia.

Leading accountancy firm Kingston Smith has been granted a wide range of waivers from Solicitors Regulation Authority rules as part of its groundbreaking transfer of alternative business structure regulator. We also have ABS news from Fletchers, Express Solicitors and Legal Recoveries & Collections.

The introduction of third-party managed accounts as an alternative to traditional client accounts will be postponed by at least a year to the end of 2016, the Solicitors Regulation Authority board decided yesterday. However, the board approved a mixed bag of deregulatory rule changes on other issues.

Irwin Mitchell has said it is “not involved” in discussions with private equity firm Duke Street to buy part of the Parabis Group, contrary to reports in the Sunday Times. The group admitted today that it has held “discreet discussions with other like-minded businesses” as it considered options to restructure its business.

International law firm DAC Beachcroft’s Claims Solutions Group, which employs 900 people across the UK, became an alternative business structure yesterday. Craig Dickson, chief executive of the group, said the move would help it respond to the “fluid” legal claims market.