Legal Services Act

Insurers will be forced to consider alternative business structures (ABSs) if the government is not sufficiently “bold” in reducing the level of legal fees for RTA portal cases, a leading defendant lawyer has warned.

Nearly 60% of top 100 law firms view mergers and acquisitions as a leading growth opportunity in a challenging legal services market – with the prospect of alternative business structures starting to snap at their heels, according to a prestigious benchmarking survey.

An attempt to ‘crowd fund’ £1.5m for the launch of what is claimed to be the world’s first live online pay-as-you-go legal advice service will begin this week. Quegal will charge users 60p a minute to receive advice from junior solicitors and paralegals.

The importance of law firms marketing to their existing client base has come through strongly from major new Law Society research that shows repeat clients are by far solicitors’ biggest source of work.

A litigation funder with £40m a year to invest is considering using alternative business structures to make funds available to law firms, according to its chief executive. They have to be prepared to work under damages-based agreements (contingency fees), however.

There is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to produce a “bold blueprint” for change in legal education and training, but “vested interests” are striving to water it down, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has cautioned.

A volume conveyancing business owned by Britain’s fourth largest building society is targeting a move into other areas of legal services after receiving its alternative business structure (ABS) licence.

The chairman of the Legal Services Board has strongly criticised the Bar Council for its approach to dealing with the board, characterising its reaction to the Legal Services Act reforms as “walking backwards slowly”.

Alternative business structures (ABSs) are increasingly on the radar of the top 100 law firms, with a growing number recognising them as threats to their profitability – and one in five planning ABS conversion themselves, according to new research.

A commercial claims management company is considering converting to an alternative business structure (ABS) to further its work in aiding investors recoup losses from complex investments which they have been mis-sold.