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More than three-quarters of law firms have changed their plans to reflect the coming of alternative business structures, but firms seeking to attract investors will have to develop credible growth strategies. Neil Kinsella, managing partner of Russell Jones & Walker, said his firm had already begun to draw up a list of potential law firm acquisitions.

Lawyers around the world are watching to see how alternative business structures (ABS) work, giving UK law firms a possible competitive advantage if they can meet “unprecedented” client demand for value, Professor Richard Susskind told the Legal Futures Conference. He also said it was “unimaginable” that investors and entrepreneurs would ignore the opportunities presented by legal market.

A former major in the Army has launched a brokerage for alternative business structures, bidding to put law firms together with private equity investors. He predicts that it will be commoditised practices run along corporate lines that will most likely attract external investment.

The Legal Services Board (LSB) believes that medium-sized City law firms are likely to be the primary targets for external investors, Legal Futures can reveal. It is one of the predictions in a draft impact assessment of alternative business structures that is still being worked on at the LSB.

Partners in law firms that receive external investment after October will alienate younger colleagues if they appear to be stripping the firm of value for future generations, a report has warned.