Market monitor

The millionaire co-founder of Betfair – the world’s largest betting exchange – is the principal investor behind new alternative business structure Brilliant Law, it has emerged. Brilliant Law said it is the UK’s first law firm set up by non-lawyers, a team “renowned for challenging the markets within which they operate”

Personal injury firms have weathered the recession better than any other area of practice – and are far more likely to be looking for external investment than any other as well, one of the largest-ever surveys of solicitors’ firms has found. It said employment, family and corporate / commercial specialists also performed better than average.

Quindell Portfolio and Abbey Protection, AIM-listed companies which both received their alternative business structure licences last month, have reported that their 2012 results are looking good. Quindell said it has had more approaches from prospective acquisition targets, while Abbey is planning an acquisition.

A social welfare law firm, a boutique dispute resolution practice, and a dedicated volume remortgage specialist that wants to align its structure with its corporate clients, are among the most recent alternative business structures licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

An innovative US website that crowdsources advice to legal questions for free is on its way to the UK after it was acquired by online document service Rocket Lawyer, Legal Futures can reveal. LawPivot provides answers to any legal question from a network of more than 2,000 lawyers.

Leading insurance law firm Horwich Farrelly has become an alternative business structure in preparation for April’s civil justice reforms, and is planning to add non-legal claims services to its offering. The Manchester-based practice has more than 400 staff.

Many small and medium-sized law practices expect alternative business structures to affect them directly, with a third saying they could merge with another firm and one in five likely to seek external funding and/or bring in non-lawyer owners, a survey has found.

There is not much of a future for small law firms in the face of competition from banks and retailers, while medium-sized practice will need to merge and seek external investment to survive and thrive, leading legal ‘futurologist’ Professor Richard Susskind has predicted.

A start-up company aimed at offering small and medium-sized businesses a wide range of legal and non-legal advice has received its alternative business structure (ABS) licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The first law firm with individual non-lawyer investors has been granted its alternative business structure licence. Everyman Legal – which both employs lawyers at its Oxfordshire base and has developed a network of home-working solicitors around the country – has six private investors who will shortly become shareholders of the firm.

Three more alternative business structures (ABSs) have been licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, with external investment, an employee share scheme and a non-lawyer partner the drivers behind them.

Quindell Portfolio has finally received its alternative business structure (ABS) licence and also predicted that it will be able to operate profitably within the new fixed fees and small claims structure put forward by the government.

Just 8% of recent home-buyers would seek out a big brand such as the Co-op to handle their conveyancing the next time they move, a consumer survey has found as Conveyancing Association launched customer service ‘pledges’ that it says are a first for the industry.

Well-known legal expenses insurer Abbey Protection plc should complete its acquisition of a law firm early next year, it revealed yesterday after receiving an alternative business structure (ABS) licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Leading defendant law firm DAC Beachcroft has joined forces with a leading business process outsourcer to offer insurers an extended motor claims-handling service. The agreement with Innovation Group mirrors the claimant outsourcing service the likes of Quindell Portfolio are putting together.