Alternative business structures
Three-way merger creates top-200 ABS
A three-way merger into a new alternative business structure has created a top 200 law firm, Legal Futures can reveal. The ABS, Taylor Rose TTKW, is made up of Peterborough-headquartered Taylor Rose Law, its associated costs firm Jaggards, and London firm Tucker Turner Kingsley Wood.
I was wrong to sell my firm to Quindell, says former legal division boss
The former chief executive of Quindell Legal Services (QLS) has admitted that he was wrong to sell a business he had built up over 13 years to the troubled plc two years ago. However, Phil Hodgkinson said he had learnt a lot from the “Quindell experience”.
“There’s nothing to stop us competing with you”, trade union ABS warns high street firms
The co-founder of Britain’s only trade union-owned alternative business structure (ABS) has warned high street lawyers that there is nothing to stop it competing with them. He also expressed concern that the profession was becoming obsessed with profit at the expense of the client.
Growth of LawStore brand enables ABS to funnel work to panel firms
MTA Solicitors, the alternative business structure behind the consumer-facing high street LawStore brand, this week opened its third store and plans to open a fourth by the end of the year. MTA has begun to sign up panels of local law firms to deal with instructions it cannot handle.
Debt recovery giant’s ABS launch coincides with acquisition and merger
A fast-growing consumer credit management group in the middle of acquisition by a company funded by the global investor that also backed LegalZoom, has launched an alternative business structure. Lowell Group employs more than 1,200 people.
Your Legal Friend launches shareholder group action against Quindell
Your Legal Friend, a trading name of Liverpool law firm Camps Solicitors, has confirmed that it has launched its long-awaited shareholder group action against Quindell plc.
Report on ABS benefits says England and Wales experience “inconclusive”
A Canadian report on alternative business structures has issued a cautious verdict on majority non-lawyer ownership, judging the model to be as yet unproven, based on the experience so far in England and Wales and Australia.
Simpson Millar vendors receive £3m earn-out after hitting targets
The shareholders who sold national law firm Simpson Millar to Fairpoint Group plc in June 2014 have received their full £3m earn-out after the practice exceeded its first-year financial targets. Fairpoint paid an initial £7m in cash – on a debt-free, cash-free basis – and 1.4m shares in the group.
Exclusive: Barristers’ chambers sets up ABS to attract overseas clients
A barristers’ chambers is set to launch an alternative business structure to help it obtain international work, because it will give the appearance of a solicitors’ firm to foreign clients who do not understand direct access.
ABS round-up: Waivers for Kingston Smith, Fletchers gains licence, and more
Leading accountancy firm Kingston Smith has been granted a wide range of waivers from Solicitors Regulation Authority rules as part of its groundbreaking transfer of alternative business structure regulator. We also have ABS news from Fletchers, Express Solicitors and Legal Recoveries & Collections.
Blog
Beyond the PII premium – rethinking risk
Professional indemnity insurance renewal is often treated as an annual pricing exercise. But it is also a chance to show how effectively you identify, manage and mitigate risk.
The AI governance gap in law firms and why it matters now
A third of law firms are already using AI tools with no formal policy in place to govern how AI gets used, what data goes into it, or who’s accountable when something goes wrong.
Information isn’t oversight – lessons from the PM Law review
The PM Law review’s real findings perhaps point to a failure mode applying to any organisation sitting on scattered risk information.
Reports
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