Market monitor

Kathryn Mortimer, head of legal services for the DAS UK Group, has been named managing director of its new law firm, DAS Law. DAS Law was created after the legal expenses insurer was granted an alternative business structure licence.

A majority of consumers would consider buying legal services from big brands, but publicity around alternative business structures and new ways to access the law over the past two years has not increased their appetite, research has indicated.

A solicitor and a barrister have joined forces in a start-up alternative business structure (ABS) that will service construction sector clients and has ambitions to employ a range of professionals associated with the building industry.

A personal injury law firm has urged those in the insurance industry to wake up to the changes in the legal market and consider whether alternative business structures (ABSs) and other arrangements with lawyers offer them a lifeline.

Personal injury firm Proddow Mackay has launched three alternative business structure (ABS) joint ventures in a bid to change strategy following the referral fee ban as Vamco, the first accident management company to become an ABS, has signed a deal with a large broker.

Small practices and sole practitioners are upbeat about their profession and confident in the future, but also burdened by regulation and concerned about winning new business, new research has found.

The first accountancy firm to be granted an alternative business structure (ABS) licence has said it won’t “shoot itself in the foot” by entering the legal market – just yet. Price Bailey has created a legal services business which has been given approval by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Cardiff firm NewLaw Solicitors has secured its second joint venture alternative business structure (ABS) in a week after teaming up with fleet management company FMG, Legal Futures can reveal. It follows on from its deal with insurer Ageas.

Admiral Group’s long-awaited legal services strategy was unveiled on Friday after it announced separate joint venture alternative business structures (ABSs) with national firm Lyons Davidson and Cardiff-based Cordner Lewis.

Nearly a fifth of not-for-profit legal advice centres are planning to charge for services as a strategy to survive cuts in legal aid, a study into the impact of the reforms has revealed. But the study found widespread fear of redundancy across the sector.

A newly licensed alternative business structure is going on the offensive after completing a three-year restructuring plan. Tees Solicitors now plans to take on new entrants to the legal services market by moving into their sectors and attracting external investment.

Antony Hodari has cut its ties with claims intermediaries and will now become self-sufficient in generating its caseload, becoming the first major personal injury law firm to announce its post-referral fee ban strategy.

NewLaw Solicitors – which yesterday formally announced an alternative business structure (ABS) with insurance giant Ageas to handle policyholders’ personal injury claims – looks set to unveil a second partnership.

Alternative business structure Quindell Portfolio plc has started to announce the major contract wins its end-to-end personal injury service has delivered, with a deal with RAC worth potentially £500m a year first to become public.

One of the country’s largest insurance companies yesterday received its alternative business structure licence and has struck a deal with a Cardiff personal injury firm to provide legal services to customers making non-fault claims.