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Three of the seven ABSs so far approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority have been granted waivers as part of their applications, it has emerged. It also warned applicants who may have tight timescales for approval that it will not guarantee to meet them.

I spoke at a conference organised by the Claims Standards Council earlier this year in Manchester on applying to become an alternative business structure. Inevitably the main topic of the conference was the Jackson reforms and the (then) possible threat to referral fees. The organisers thought that the impact of the reforms might lead many claims management companies to consider becoming an ABS by acquisition or merger with existing law firms or by developing an in-house legal function.

The rule which prevents solicitors and in the future alternative business structures (ABSs) from hiving off unreserved legal work into unregulated businesses may stifle new entrants to the market, the Legal Services Board has warned. The board is now considering a review of the rule’s “continuing relevance”.

New 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.

The Law Society has begun laying down the red lines beyond which it will not be able to support alternative business structures (ABSs), Legal Futures can reveal. The society’s regulatory affairs board has highlighted a variety of issues that it expects to see addressed if it is to judge the arrangements for ABSs satisfactory, including effective controls on the fitness to own of prospective external owners.