Legal Services Act

Business consultancy Assure Law has acquired a majority stake in HighStreetLawyer.com, the network of small firms, and plans to expand it substantially.

The first lawyer to be ‘named and shamed’ by the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) for a series of complaints has argued that he is only “trying to adapt to new market forces”.

Sir Michael Pitt, chairman of the Legal Services Board, said yesterday that he wanted to present the new government after next year’s general election with an agreed “range of options” for the future of regulation.

The share price of alternative business structure Quindell went into meltdown again today after it emerged that founder and former chairman Rob Terry has sold 25m shares over the last fortnight.

Ian Brack, formerly chief executive and chief accounting officer of the Olympic Lottery Distributor, has been appointed interim chief executive of the Legal Ombudsman in succession to Adam Sampson after his resignation last month.

The Legal Ombudsman has exercised for the first time its power under the Legal Services Act to name “in the public interest” a lawyer responsible for a series of complaints.

There is set to be increased turbulence in the legal market, with more new entrants, consolidation and the exit of those who cannot adapt, the strategy director of the Legal Services Board has predicted.

Alternative business structure Quindell has called in PwC to conduct an independent review of the business, with the issue of its cash flow a key focus, it announced this morning.

Private equity company Duke Street Capital has invested a further £13m in Parabis Group in a show of long-term commitment to the top 50 firm. Duke Street was the first private equity investor in a solicitors’ firm.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel today expressed concerned that “the recent emphasis on deregulation… is being taken too far”, while also praising the innovation seen to date through alternative business structures.