Legal Services Act
Criminal law barristers urged to embrace new business structures to survive
Criminal law barristers need to consider significant changes to their business models if they are to remain competitive, the Legal Services Board has argued. It said liberalisation is one of the reasons the government does not need to intervene in the criminal advocacy market.
Firm launches ABS spin-off after pledge of multi-million pound recovery work
An international law firm has launched a start-up alternative business structure to carry out recovery work after being promised cases with a debt value of £40m by existing corporate clients.
Exclusive: US tech business bidding to re-engineer divorce process targets UK expansion
A US company looking to re-engineer the divorce process through an innovative technology platform and process has laid out its plans to come to the UK, Legal Futures can reveal. Wevorce recently raised $1.7m (£1m) in new funding.
MPs endorse Green as next chair of Office for Legal Complaints
Former policeman Steve Green today cleared the final hurdle to his appointment as the new chair of the Office for Legal Complaints – the body that oversees the Legal Ombudsman – after he was endorsed by MPs on the justice select committee.
HighStreetLawyer ditches consumer business to focus on building online collaboration
The “balloon has burst” on networks of law firms grouping together to share marketing, while the appetite among solicitors for collaboration with their peers is growing, the founder of a small firm legal network said this week.
Here come the accountants and legal executives…
Competition in the law is to increase further after the Legal Services Board backed accountants to handle reserved probate work and set up alternative business structures, as well as chartered legal executives to set up their own conveyancing and probate practices.
… as LSB chair accuses Law Society and Bar of wanting to stifle competition
The Law Society and Bar Council’s call for the government to return large swathes of regulation to them is self-serving and aims to restrict competition, the chairman of the Legal Services Board has claimed.
MPs probe OLC chair-in-waiting, as CMC complaints impasse finally broken
The Legal Ombudsman should swap the telephone for the internet as the main way it deals with the public and in doing so reflect the market it serves, according to the man likely to become chair of its oversight body, the Office for Legal Complaints.
In-Deed brand acquisition aimed at building up online property panel
The In-Deed conveyancing brand has been acquired by the owner of an online property panel – the final step in the dissolution of the country’s first alternative business structure (ABS) failure.
IPReg poised to become ABS licensing authority number 3
The prospect of external investment in intellectual property firms is set to soar after the Intellectual Property Regulation Board won the support of the Legal Services Board to become the third alternative business structure licensing authority.
Blog
AI in family law – drawing the line for clients and lawyers
AI is becoming increasingly intertwined with family law. Clients are using it to draft initial enquiries, prepare statements and, in some cases, to support themselves as litigants in person.
Why AI and leadership choices will define law firm profitability in 2026
Despite rapid advances in legal technology, the future of law will not be determined by software alone. It will be shaped by leadership decisions.
Legal director: an alternative to partnership
Firms are increasingly acknowledging the need for alternative senior roles – positions that offer influence and recognition without the obligations of ownership.
