Alternative business structures
Optima Legal joins Capita empire after ABS award
Outsourcing giant Capita can complete its purchase of Optima Legal and Cost Advocates after the SRA today granted Optima an alternative business structure license.
Local authority ABSs need “clear rationale”
Local authorities must have a “really clear rationale” before setting up ABSs to generate extra income, a leading public services lawyer has warned. Potential problems included conflicts of interest, confidentiality and indemnity insurance.
Riverview Law granted ABS licence
Pioneering legal business Riverview Law has been granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence, enabling it to own Riverview Solicitors. As of 1 June, Riverview Solicitors will merge into Riverview Law.
ABSs top 300 mark with latest licencees demonstrating variety of new legal breed
The number of alternative business structures (ABSs) has passed 300, with a major international business support services company with offices around the world among the latest to achieve the status.
LSB reviews hurdles faced by non-lawyers who want to own ABSs
Plans to simplify the approval process for non-lawyer owners of alternative business structures are being considered by the Legal Services Board, it has emerged. Private equity purchasers are proving particularly tricky under the current regime.
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.
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.
ABS brings together conveyancing with estate agency and financial advice
A solicitor has merged her law practice with the family estate agency and finance business in an alternative business structure that is thought to be the first in Cumbria.
Blog
Listening, learning and leading The Solicitor’s Charity with care
As I prepare to hand over the mantle of chair of The Solicitor’s Charity next month, it doesn’t feel like an end. Instead, it feels like a wonderful journey.
Is competition in the legal sector stifling innovation?
As the legal sector’s competitive landscape continues to evolve, Nobel laureates remind us that innovation is not inevitable,and that competition may not always be an incentive to innovate.
What high-performing consumer claims firms get right
Recurring concerns about parts of the volume claims sector show that the gap between well-run firms and those struggling to manage volume effectively is widening.
