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The latest move by Co-operative Legal Services (CLS) is very smart, rather exciting and even a bit surprising. It is smart because CLS has proved various things by hiring Jenny Beck and Christina Blacklaws. Recruiting two of the best-known family lawyers around is convincing evidence that it is serious about family law and doing it right.

It has been quite a couple of weeks. Far from taking a break for the summer, the imminent arrival of alternative business structures (albeit not quite as imminent as expected) has seen the legal market bubbling over. And we learnt that there are lessons to be found from the Vestal Virgins, no less.

The Co-operative has this week broken new ground by offering face-to-face legal services, combined with financial services advice, through the Britannia bank. The pilot could be the precuror to legal services being delivered through 350 branches of Britannia and the Co-operative Bank.

Three 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.

Profits at Co-operative Legal Services more than doubled last year, preliminary figures have shown. Sales from the legal arm grew 45%, to £20 million, with operating profits up £2.1 million to £3.8 million.