If ever there was a “what the…?” moment since setting up Legal Futures, it was the news that the Stobart Group is entering the legal services market. The story launched many an attempt at humour on Twitter, but I will gladly put them to one side. One can see some challenges for this venture, not least that while Eddie Stobart is a well-known brand, especially among motorway travellers, it is not known for delivering any services, let alone professional ones, to consumers.

At some stage in your career – probably many years ago – someone will have asked you to describe your perfect job or where you saw yourself in 10 years’ time. Maybe you talked earnestly about your burning desire to bring justice to the masses. More likely, you claimed that your ultimate goal was to be partner in the interviewer’s fine establishment. Chances are you didn’t say: “What I want, what I really really want, is to be a compliance officer for legal practice.” – Allison Wooddisse discusses what firms should include in a COLP’s job description.

The fierce debate over whether the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) should name those lawyers/firms against whom complaints are made has not gone away despite LeO’s decision to press ahead with the policy. And a story on it in yesterday’s Daily Mail gave a preview of what this could all mean in practice. “Shaming the rogue lawyers: list of Britain’s worst solicitors to be published for the first time,” ran the headline.

Any form of growth requires funding. Traditionally law firms have funded growth (or in some cases losses) from the high street banks. We have all recognised that this option no longer exists – or does it? The reality is that if you have a good solid history and a sound business plan, then most of the banks will still provide this badly needed access to capital. If you are not so fortunate, how are you going to expand without investing either your own cash, or someone else’s?

Andrew Whitehouse of corporate finance house Smith Square Partners – which is targeting the legal market after tying up with ABS Advisory Partners – says that with consolidation set to accelerate, converting to a corporate structure is the best way for law firms to take advantage of it