Alternative business structures

In the event a large firm collapses, the Solicitors Regulation Authority expects the market to “gobble” up the pieces rather than leave it to the regulator to sort out, it has emerged. Chief executive Paul Philip said the question of whether the regulator could cope with a large firm going down had been discussed internally.

The law firm owned by global insurance giant Markel relaunched this week with a product that unbundles legal advice for small and medium-sized businesses. LHS Solicitors offers a £50 ‘quick review’ service that allows clients to post relevant documents online, if necessary, and then receive an advice call within two hours.

One Legal’s acquisition of Kaim Todner sets the foundation for further deals on the back of “significant investment” it has received to expand, the alternative business structure’s founder has said. Trevor Howarth, who shot to prominence as the boss of now-defunct Stobart Barristers, also did not resile from his controversial description of criminal legal aid firms as “very wounded animals ready to die”.

South west law firm Stephens Scown is to become a pioneering alternative business structure at the end of his month, which will allow it to remain a partnership while introducing employee ownership. Managing partner Robert Camp he hoped it would provide a “way forward” for other law firms.

An alternative business structure to be launched by the Royal College of Nursing and Cardiff-based NewLaw next month is to limit its offering to personal injury, it has emerged, making it a markedly different offering from that set up last year by the British Medical Association.

One Legal – the alternative business structure originally set up in 2013 to work alongside the now-defunct Stobart Barristers – has shot back into the limelight by acquiring well-known criminal defence law firm Kaim Todner.

Slater & Gordon is to conduct a major restructuring of its UK operation – with office closures and redundancies on the cards – after it unveiled an eye-watering loss of £493m for the six months ending 31 December 2015. The loss was mainly attributable to a write-down of goodwill arising from its acquisition of Quindell, but also underperformance of the entire UK operation.

Cardiff firm NewLaw yesterday confirmed that it is working with the Royal College of Nursing to launch an alternative business structure from 1 April. The news came with its owner, AIM-listed Redde plc, announcing big rises in income and profits for the second half of 2015.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority, once criticised for taking too long to approve alternative business structures, is now regularly approving applications from legal disciplinary practices in only two weeks, it has emerged.

Four local authorities in the south of England are set to create an alternative business structure in a bid to increase their income in a time of budget cuts. Brighton & Hove City Council, East Sussex County Council, Surrey County Council and West Sussex County Council are first to bring together their legal teams in a partnership.

A leading criminal defence set that set up an alternative business structure last year has launched a military law practice that has clients being investigated by the Ministry of Defence-funded Iraq Historic Allegations Team.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has accused banks, insurance companies and others of discriminating against accountants providing probate services, in favour of solicitors. It said various organisations “appeared not to have caught up with the consequences of the Legal Services Act”.

Law firms no longer need to carry out reserved activities in order to be regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority – but the regulator has offered assurances that it will not seek to bring the currently unregulated into its net as a form of quasi-accreditation.

Knights, the law firm backed by leading businessman James Caan, is targeting accountants, tax specialists and town planners as part of a plan to recruit a 100 more professionals this year. Chief executive David Beech said he expected around half of the new recruits to be non-lawyers.

Fairpoint plc, owner of national law firm Simpson Millar, has said it is ready for more acquisitions after achieving “double-digit growth” in the last calendar year. The firm also reassured investors over the impact of the government’s whiplash reforms.