Alternative business structures

Christina Blacklaws, who has spearheaded the development of Co-operative Legal Services, left the alternative business structure at the end of last month, Legal Futures can reveal.

Kent County Council’s legal services team is expecting a bumper response from law firms and other legal services providers after starting a unique procurement exercise for a joint venture partner within an alternative business structure.

An AIM-listed consumer financial services business is to acquire national law firm Simpson Millar – which had last year looked like being bought by Slater & Gordon – for £15m.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s approach to licensing non-traditional businesses as alternative business structures is “impacting competition, access to justice and negatively affecting consumers”, the Legal Services Board has claimed.

A solicitor has merged her law practice with the family estate agency and finance business in an alternative business structure that is thought to be the first in Cumbria.

Alternative business structure Quindell plc is spending nearly £150m a year in upfront case acquisition costs, it has emerged. The AIM-listed group is also developing a “collaboration protocol” with insurers that will lead to the pre-payment of legal costs.

A FTSE-250 wealth management company is to launch an alternative business structure (ABS), it has emerged. The ABS is owned by Rathbone Brothers plc, a venerable City institution whose origins date back to 1742.

“Radical changes” to the authorisation and supervision of alternative business structures are on the cards after the Solicitors Regulation Authority expressed concern that the number of applications from multi-disciplinary practices has been “in the tens rather than hundreds”.

A blue-chip wealth management company has set up an alternative business structure (ABS) to add legal to its mix of services, and is also eyeing up potential acquisitions to boost its client base.

The involvement of big brands like BT and KPMG is evidence that alternative business structures have the resources and expertise to encroach on the work done by larger law firms, a top banker has predicted.

The UK’s top law firms have become increasingly sceptical about listing on the stock market or taking on private equity investment, according to new research.

The prospect of the ‘big four’ accountants challenging the City status quo moved up another notch today after EY hired a senior lawyer to build a “legal capability” in the UK.

LexisNexis UK has been licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority as an alternative business structure (ABS) to launch a compliance business combining content, technology and advisory services.

There is no reason why you need a law firm to carry out many of the tasks that traditional firms have previously handled, the group general counsel of BT has warned. Dan Fitz also revealed that it was looking to expand the work handled by BT Law, the company’s ABS.

The attitude of “some in positions of immense responsibility” in the legal profession represents a “direct threat” to an innovative future for legal services, the chairman of the Legal Services Board has claimed.