Legal Services Act

A legal business support firm and a legal training provider are creating an alliance to help independent firms resist the influx of big brand new entrants. 360 Legal Group, which works with around 700 member law firms, has joined forces with Central Law Training.

The first start-up alternative business structure (ABS) – offering clients ‘early access’ to barristers – has smashed expectations in its first year and aims to be turning over £500,000 in the next 12 months.

A newly established alternative business structure (ABS) set up by two lawyers and a wealth management expert is set to package up legal advice for financial advisers to provide to their customers.

It came as a major surprise to many in the industry when In-Deed closed for business. Despite a difficult trading period, with over £1m in cash on its balance sheet the company appeared in better health than many conveyancing practices. The closure marked a swift rise and fall in fortune for one of the poster children of liberalisation of the legal market.

A London firm of chartered surveyors has become an alternative business structure (ABS) with plans for a legal arm, in what is believed to be the first venture of its kind. Meanwhile, private equity-backed ABS Knights Solicitors has hired six planners as it builds a multi-disciplinary offering

Almost a third of personal injury law firms in the north-west have seen fee income drop due to the introduction of LASPO reforms on 1 April, new research has found. More than 70% said that the regulatory and structural changes have had a negative impact on their businesses.

American opposition to alternative business structures is about protecting lawyers, not clients, Professor Richard Susskind has suggested. And he predicted that within a decade or so, “most advanced jurisdictions, and many emerging jurisdictions as well, will have liberalised in the manner of England

Lawyers’ lack of transparency over cost – rather than the actual cost of their services – is the major barrier to consumers seeking legal advice and the primary cause of a breakdown in trust between them, Legal Services Board research has found.

Competition from alternative business structures (ABSs) has increased pressure on law firms to the point that 2,500 are at risk of financial failure in the coming year, according to business recovery specialists.

Alex Mills, who was last week fired from The Apprentice, has told Legal Futures that his fledgling brand Dynamo Legal has a six-month window to capitalise on the publicity his stint on the BBC show has generated.

There may be fewer criminal law firms as a result of legal aid reform but not fewer solicitors, the Lord Chancellor claimed today. Questioned by the justice select committee, Chris Grayling also expressed disappointment at what he said was the Bar’s failure to engage with the process.

The shareholders of online conveyancing business In-Deed – the first listed company to buy a law firm – have approved the plan to dispose of the practice and the rest of its business. Nonetheless, the failure of In-Deed paves the way for “further necessary disruption in the conveyancing market”, it has been claimed.

The “sustainable consolidation” of nearly 1,200 small criminal law firms could be driven by requiring them to have a minimum number of duty solicitors, the Law Society has proposed as its alternative to price competitive tendering.

A human resources (HR) outsourcing one-stop shop involving both lawyers and non-lawyers has been launched by City firm DAC Beachcroft, with plans to roll out the blueprint to other areas of legal services.

The Ministry of Justice today showed the first sign of cracking under the weight of pressure over its plans to reform criminal legal aid, with the Lord Chancellor ditching the plan to end client choice of solicitor.