Alternative business structures
BSB opens door to regulating businesses with no barrister owners
The Bar Standards Board is prepared to regulate entities that do not have any barrister owners, it decided last week. The shift comes shortly after the Solicitors Regulation Authority granted an alternative business structure licence to a chambers – the first without a solicitor owner.
Government: we will toughen up referral fee ban if ABSs are being used to get around it
The government has pledged to revisit the terms of the personal injury referral fee ban if it looks as though alternative business structures (ABSs) and other arrangements are being used to get around it.
SRA and Legal Services Board tussle over ABS application process
The Legal Services Board has been critical of the length of the time the Solicitors Regulation Authority has taken to approve alternative business structures, it has emerged.
SRA will consider “fast-tracking” ABS applications aimed at price competitive tendering
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) will consider fast-tracking alternative business structure (ABS) applicants who want to bid for the government’s proposed criminal legal aid contracts, Legal Futures can reveal.
Horwich Farrelly becomes latest north-west ABS to head to London
Manchester-headquartered alternative business structure Horwich Farrelly has headed south to launch an office in the City of London. The specialist insurance litigation law firm estimates that the new office will generate up to £2m of income in its first year.
Survey: conveyancers more worried by lenders than ABSs
Lender panels, rather than alternative business structures (ABSs), are the main threat to conveyancing businesses, new research has found. Interest among conveyancers in becoming an ABS also appears to be falling.
Exclusive: not-for-profit venture capitalists poised to invest in law firm start-up
A not-for-profit venture capital business that promotes innovation is set to invest in a start-up law firm targeting the technology sector, Legal Futures can reveal. The unusually named Atypical Law Firm will this week submit its ABS application.
Chambers becomes first ABS licensed by the SRA without a solicitor
A London chambers has become the first alternative business structure licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority that does not have any solicitors. Richmond Chambers LLP is a niche immigration set that focuses on direct access work.
Law firm attached to new insurance business gains ABS licence
A new insurance business that will also offer wills, probate and family law services is set to go live after its law firm received an alternative business structure licence. It is the first insurance/law firm tie-up that does not involve personal injury claims.
Deloitte warns government: ABSs are not the solution to criminal legal aid reform
The viability of using alternative business structures as a means to offer criminal legal services under the government’s price competitive tendering scheme is questionable, a report by consultants Deloitte has warned.
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.
