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Mid-tier City law firms may have the greatest incentive to go to the public markets to fund their merger and acquisition activities, the Legal Services Board has suggested. But there is a risk of an “investment bubble” where external investment in alternative business structures proves only temporary for short-term gain.

A leading City lawyer is targeting major Chinese and Indian law firms with a view to using alternative business structures to help them build global practices from the UK. Stephen Kines said ABSs will provide them with a flexible structure.

A first blog from associate editor Dan Bindman: I’ve been writing news stories about changes underway in the legal services market on and off for about a year now, and have been struck by the great variety of approaches to the significance of alternative business structures, both among lawyers and legal commentators. ABSs seem to represent a tsunami of change that will either undermine the ‘trusted professional’ status of lawyers, turning them into salesmen, or a long overdue market liberalisation; a boon to consumers bringing a much needed reality-check to a complacent profession – or something in between.

Alternative business structures (ABSs) could be good news for women, black and minority ethnic, and disabled barristers, the Bar Standards Board has predicted, after approving rules that will allow barristers to become partners and owners of ABSs.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority will not be able to start regulating alternative business structures on 6 October, Legal Futures can reveal. Further, the question of whether prospective non-lawyer investors in ABSs will have to reveal all convictions, even if they are spent, remains unresolved and could stop the SRA licensing ABSs with external ownership.