Latest news
From ABS to LSB – BT lawyer appointed to oversight regulator
A senior lawyer at telecoms giant BT – which owns an alternative business structure – has become the newest member of the Legal Services Board. David Eveleigh has been joined on the board by Marina Gibbs, the director of competition policy at Ofcom.
LawNet targets expansion with Marston hire
Leading law firm network LawNet is set to expand after appointing well-known banker Chris Marston as its new chief executive. Mr Marston, currently head of professional practices at Lloyds Banking Group, will start in the new role in July.
Exclusive: major blow to Co-op Legal Services as Blacklaws departs
Christina Blacklaws, who has spearheaded the development of Co-operative Legal Services, left the alternative business structure at the end of last month, Legal Futures can reveal.
Council legal team launches procurement exercise to find ABS partner
Kent County Council’s legal services team is expecting a bumper response from law firms and other legal services providers after starting a unique procurement exercise for a joint venture partner within an alternative business structure.
Criminal barristers vote 2:1 to accept government legal aid deal
Criminal law barristers yesterday voted two to one in favour of calling off their industrial action and accept the deal offered by the government. However, fewer than half of the Criminal Bar Association’s 4,000 members voted.
Regulators pledge data for comparison sites, as panel goes undercover to investigate web advice
The Legal Services Consumer Panel has conducted a ‘mystery shopping’ exercise to assess consumers’ experience of online self-help tools for a divorce. Meanwhile, work by the panel to open up data held by regulators to be used by legal comparison websites took a major step forward.
AIM-listed financial services business agrees £15m deal to buy Simpson Millar
An AIM-listed consumer financial services business is to acquire national law firm Simpson Millar – which had last year looked like being bought by Slater & Gordon – for £15m.
SRA’s approach to licensing ABSs “damaging competition, consumers and access to justice”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s approach to licensing non-traditional businesses as alternative business structures is “impacting competition, access to justice and negatively affecting consumers”, the Legal Services Board has claimed.
Virtual firm offers to “insulate” capital for partners
A virtual firm launched yesterday which hopes to attract 50 corporate and commercial lawyers billing a total of £15m a year by 2019. Carbon Law Partners aspires to the success of virtual law firms such as Keystone Law and Setfords.
QS steals march on “shortsighted” law firms by offering fixed-fee small claims service
QualitySolicitors has teamed up with a mediation provider to offer a fixed-fee legal solution for the type of small claims disputes that it said most “shortsighted” law firms will not touch. It said law firms were missing out on potential clients of the future.
Blog
Preparing people for the pace of technological change
While technology often dominates the conversation, I believe the most important challenge facing law firms is not adopting new tools – it is preparing people to adapt alongside them.
Reorientation in the AI era must begin with the client
Much of the discussion about AI in the legal industry focuses on technology: which tools to adopt and which tasks might get automated. But this misses the deeper story.
Awaab’s Law phase 2: New hazards council tenants can now claim for
The conversation on housing disrepair is moving beyond damp and mould alone. With the rollout of phase 2 of Awaab’s Law, the scope of issues covered is expanding significantly,
