Market monitor

Around 100 firms of accountants are expected to become alternative business structures, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales said today as it unveiled its draft application to become a regulator of legal work.

CompareLegalCosts.com, the ‘new generation’ comparison website that requires participating law firms and barristers to offer fixed fees, has announced a £500,000 investment in the full launch of the service next month.

A law firm that specialises in providing advocacy services in every county court across the country yesterday became the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s eighth alternative business structure.

AIM-listed Quindell Portfolio has now signed a binding agreement to buy Liverpool law firm Silverbeck Rymer, subject to receiving its alternative business structure licence and Financial Services Authority approval, it announced today.

A growing number of small and mid-sized law firms are looking at raising external capital, but many need to address failings in basic business planning first, new research has found. It also identified £20m as the turnover point when a law firm turns into a real business.

Some law firms are considering conversion to an alternative business structure (ABS) out of “panic or paranoia” without first getting their own houses in order, experts warned yesterday. Lawyers need first to build sustainable businesses, they said.

Creating a multi-disciplinary practice, spinning off new services and accessing external investment to finance growth are the main goals of commercial law firms considering converting to alternative business structures, a new survey has found.

Merger activity among the country’s top firms is likely to increase as they grapple with both the Legal Services Act and a stagnant economy, leading accountancy firm Deloitte has predicted.

Around 25-30 would-be alternative business structures have formally completed their applications and are now being considered for licences – with decisions on a few “quite imminent” – the Solicitors Regulation Authority has revealed.

Co-operative Legal Services has accused some solicitors of hiding extra charges in the small print of their quotes. The warning to consumers is the first sign of an aggressive push now it has its ABS licence.

The recent spate of Anglo-Scottish mergers will not be the last as Scotland gears up for its own alternative business structure regime going live, it has been predicted. There has been a “surge in M&A activity in the Scottish legal market”.

Mid-market private equity business August Equity has become the latest to outline its intention to invest in the legal market, Legal Futures can reveal. It typically invests between £10m and £30m in equity.

Staffordshire law firm Knights has struck a deal to accept investment from the private equity company owned by former Dragon’s Den star James Caan in a bid to attract work away from the City.

A “disruptive” services procurement platform that allows small and medium-sized businesses to put out tenders to an expert community and manage them, all via the cloud, is set to enter the legal market.

The country’s largest specialist debt law firm – which went live a few weeks ago – is on the acquisition trail and is also open to the idea of outside investment, its chief executive has revealed. Drydensfairfax is exactly the kind of firms investors are said to be keen on.