Alternative business structures

Jordans – the business known for company formation services and publishing legal textbooks – now has a corporate law firm after receiving its alternative business structure licence.

Minster Law – the major claimant practice now owned by insurance group BGL – has joined top personal injury marketing business National Accident Helpline (NAH), becoming its largest panel member.

A firm of accountants in Devon has become only the third to launch a legal arm after winning an alternative business structure licence. Davisons Legal Services began trading last week, with former City lawyer Philip Vickery as its head of legal practice.

Winn Solicitors – the firm which was last week bought by two private equity businesses – now has the firepower to expand beyond its core road traffic practice, founder Jeff Winn has told Legal Futures.

Well-known London law firm Schillings – which was granted two alternative business structure licences in March – has relaunched as a business that integrates IT security, legal advice and risk consulting to help companies and individuals protect their reputations.

Lewis Hymanson Small – the law firm bought by AIM-listed Abbey Protection earlier this year – made a small dent in the company’s profits during a “tough” initial period, Abbey’s half-year results have shown. They also lay out how much it paid for the Manchester practice.

Winn Solicitors – which has grown in a decade from nothing to a highly profitable £40m volume claimant personal injury firm – is set for further expansion after being bought by two international investment companies.

Slater & Gordon has now formally acquired personal injury firm Goodmans, giving the alternative business structure (ABS) a Liverpool base for the first time. Meanwhile, Co-operative Legal Services has launched its academy to offer career progression to all staff.

A niche medical law firm has become an alternative business structure with the ambition of becoming a one-stop shop for healthcare providers. DR Solicitors was created under a brand designed to appeal to its primary care doctor, dentist and consultant clients.

Leading AIM-listed accident management company Helphire Group has linked with a start-up personal injury law firm within an alternative business structure, Legal Futures can reveal. Principia Law Limited is managed by solicitors and barristers.

A specialist industrial disease law firm in the north-west is looking to convert to an alternative business structure to take advantage of a period of extraordinary growth. Fee income doubled to £7m and staff numbers quadrupled to 170 over the last year.

Jacoby & Meyers – which claims to be the largest full-service consumer law firm in America – is to create a joint venture alternative business structure as a vehicle to acquire UK law firms and become a “significant” player over here.

The first alternative business structure to market itself as a firm offering both legal and accountancy services has been licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Direct Law & Finance Ltd is a firm of solicitors and accountants based in Brentford, west London.

There are signs of the Solicitors Regulation Authority relaxing its strict interpretation of a key rule which may be “dampening” innovation and new entrants to the market, according to the Legal Services Board.

The Legal Services Board is weighing up whether to launch a formal investigation into the way the Solicitors Regulation Authority is handling alternative business structure applications, Legal Futures can reveal.