Market monitor

Turnover at the country’s first listed law firm, Gateley, has gone up by at least 15% in the last financial year, it announced to the stock exchange today as its share price reached an all-time high. It said revenue for the financial year ended 30 April 2017 will be not less than £77m, up from £67m the previous year.

The ‘millennial’ generation of legal services buyer is taking over from the ‘baby boomers’ and bringing a range of new expectations that lawyers must respond to, such as flexibility of service and working hours, predictable pricing, and value for money, according to a new report.

Increasingly demanding business clients and the need to raise capital to invest in technology to bring legal costs down will eventually lead to more commercial law firms listing on stock exchanges, according to a senior corporate adviser. He said listing offered a number of advantages.

The first ever investor conference aimed at the business of law in a listed environment has heard that while investment opportunities in the legal sector are limited, the sheer value of assets makes it attractive. The broker which organised it said: “We remain convinced that we will see more legal services businesses using a listing over time.”

The first not-for-profit criminal law firm – which opened its doors last month – has underlined its intention to generate surpluses like any other business; it will just distribute them differently. The firm is arranged as a co-operative and set up as a community interest company.

A new brand selling direct access barristers to the general public for consumer law matters has gone live, Legal Futures can reveal. Meanwhile, the first, basic iteration of Billy Bot, the ‘robot junior clerk’ being created by Clerksroom, has gone live.

The impending break-up of the company formerly known as Quindell was a factor in the timing of Slater & Gordon’s decision to start legal proceedings over alleged fraudulent misrepresentation in the deal to buy Quindell’s professional services division, the firm has said.

A leading provider of consultancy and expert witness services to the engineering sector has launched an alternative business structure (ABS) in a bid to add regulated legal services to its offering for corporate clients. The company is headed by the former senior partner of Wragge & Co.

Fast-growing alternative business structure Knights Professional Services is on the look-out for its next acquisition and ‘second city’ location – as well as more non-legal services – after unveiling an increase of more than 60% in turnover over the past year to £33.5m.

Slater & Gordon has yet to pay the company that used to be Quindell any deferred consideration from the 53,000 noise-induced hearing loss cases it bought, it emerged yesterday. It has also not launched the legal action against Watchstone Group that it announced seven months ago.

The financial performance of smaller law firms has improved over last year, with both fee income and profits up significantly above inflation, according to an annual benchmarking survey published this week. Very little increase in salary costs, improved lock-up, and reductions in both WIP and debtor days contributed to the positive picture.

A novel online family law service that uses experienced lawyers to mentor and manage clients through the legal process has gone live. Family Law Café is the brainchild of Joanna Toch, a barrister at Church Court Chambers in London, and she has secured financial backing from private individuals, including corporate lawyers.

The QualitySolicitors network is to enter a three-month trial to supply legal services to retail chain Nisa, as it pushes to exploit its national network. Nisa is the UK’s leading member-owned organisation, providing benefits to 1,300 independent food and drink markets.

One of the country’s largest personal injury practices has highlighted the benefits of being an alternative business structure owned by a large business after the write-off of a multi-million pound inter-company loan, and an £11m cash injection, helped it turn a huge loss into a profit in its last financial year.

A local authority in Surrey is eyeing up an alternative business structure so it can “commercialise” its legal services in the wake of a partnership with another council coming to an end. Our latest ABS round-up also includes a virtual firm looking for investment to expand, a major deal for a leading probate ABS and a heavyweight appointment.