Tag Results
SRA grants waivers to three ABSs and warns applicants over timetable for approval
Tuesday, 3 July 2012Three 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.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Co-op, separate business rule, Solicitors Code of Conduct, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Latest news
Everything you wanted to know about ABS applications but were literally afraid to ask
Friday, 22 June 2012Seven alternative business structures in more than five months does not seem to be a great achievement on the part of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and increasingly Legal Futures has been hearing complaints about delay and a lack of transparency in the process.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, MDP, multi-disciplinary practice, separate business rule, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Features
CMCs warned over major ABS hitch amid call to close referral fee ban "loophole"
Monday, 31 October 2011Claims management companies looking to create legal arms as ABSs could fall foul of Solicitors Regulation Authority rules, a former SRA director has warned, while a leading insurance lawyer cautions over a loophole in the referral fee ban.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, claims management companies, referral fees, separate business rule, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, News
Will the separate business rule ruin CMCs’ plans to become ABSs?
Monday, 31 October 2011I 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.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, claims management companies, separate business rule, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Features
LSB may call time on separate business rule over fears it could inhibit ABSs
Wednesday, 6 July 2011The 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”.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel, Office of Fair Trading, separate business rule
Posted in Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board, News, Solicitors
SRA receives green light to license ABSs
Thursday, 16 June 2011The Legal Services Board is to recommend to the Lord Chancellor that the Law Society – through the Solicitors Regulation Authority – become an alternative business structure licensing authority. However, there has been a disagreement over the separate business rule.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Law Society, Legal Services Board, Legal Services Consumer Panel, Office of Fair Trading, OFR, outcomes-focused regulation, separate business rule, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Legal Services Board, News, Solicitors
Consumer confusion boosts case for strict controls over unreserved work
Monday, 14 March 2011New 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.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, reserved legal activities, separate business rule, Solicitors Regulation Authority, unregulated providers
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
Consumer panel backs separate business rule with dig at the Co-op
Wednesday, 19 January 2011Law firms and alternative business structures should not be allowed to dodge regulation by establishing separate businesses to handle unreserved work, the Legal Services Consumer Panel said this week. The panel also appeared to rebuke Co-operative Legal Services – whose stated intention is to be one of the first ABSs – for calling for freedom in how businesses choose to provide unreserved work.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, Legal Services Consumer Panel, reserved legal activities, separate business rule, Solicitors Code of Conduct, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Alternative business structures, Consumer panel, News, Solicitors
Law Society sets down red lines marking out limits of its support for ABSs
Wednesday, 3 November 2010The 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.
Tags: ABS, Alternative business structures, fitness to own, MDP, multi-disciplinary practice, separate business rule
Posted in Alternative business structures, News, Solicitors
Blog
The rise of the agent
We believe AI agents are going to represent the biggest change to the way in which the general public interact with professional services business for generations.
The lonely role of a COFA: sharing the burden of risk management
Compliance officers for finance and administration in law firms can often find themselves walking a solitary path. But what if we could create a collaborative culture of shared accountability?
Mind the (justice) gap: Why are RTAs going up but claims still down?
The gap between the number of road traffic accident injuries and the number of motor injury claims continues to widen, according to the latest government data.
Reports
Associates
