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Regional law firm Osborne Clarke has become the victim of a scam falsely telling clients that it has changed its bank account details, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has warned.

The number of alternative business structures (ABSs) licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority hit 200 yesterday, but the first ABS liquidation and first licence revocation have tempered any celebrations.

The launch of Riverview Law last year generated “shock, confusion and resentment” at a rival chambers whose membership supplied four of the new venture’s initial 12 QCs, but in the end it helped the set adapt to the new legal market, according to its commercial director.

Discontent is building among the frontline regulators over a Legal Services Board proposal that they should change their internal governance rules to require the chairs of regulatory boards to be lay and not legal professionals.

A High Court judge has accused the Bar Standards Board of “misleading conduct” in the way it handled a disciplinary matter that led to a barrister being disbarred. However, Mr Justice Moses concluded “with reluctance” that despite this, it was not necessary to quash the decision.

Four leading Manchester personal injury firms have joined forces to build a seven-figure war chest that will buy out practices wanting to exit the sector. Pi Gateway claims already to have nine transactions under consideration.

The Association of British Insurers has opened a new front in its ongoing battle with the Law Society by arguing that solicitors’ representative body should not automatically receive a cut of the practising certificate fee.

Artesian Law, the barrister-led legal disciplinary practice, is set to double in size after 18 months in business by actively recruiting associate members in order to expand beyond its mainstay of criminal legal aid work.

The possibility of clients buying ‘top-up’ cover to fill the gaps in compulsory professional indemnity insurance has been floated by the Legal Services Board as it set the scene for a significant shake-up of current financial protection arrangements.

A University of Exeter project is teaching first year law undergraduates about alternative business structures, in what the academic tutor says is meeting outcomes recommended by the Legal Education and Training Review.