Legal Services Act

Three of the seven ABSs so far approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority have been granted waivers as part of their applications, it has emerged. It also warned applicants who may have tight timescales for approval that it will not guarantee to meet them.

The Law Society will not be required to certify its compliance with the rules on internal governance because it is bound to fail the test, the Legal Services Board has decided. The board said the new governance arrangements are “somewhat fragile”.

The Legal Services Act will play a role in transforming the legal market around the world, with English lawyers well placed to take advantage as a result, Professor Richard Susskind predicted last week. He also gave a preview of his new book – Tomorrow’s lawyers: An introduction to your future.

Lawyers are “in denial about what customers hate about law firms” and it will take entrepreneurs from outside the profession to deliver the wholesale change to the business model that is required, the founder of Freeserve claimed last week.

The Bar Standards Board narrowly defeated a motion proposed by a former Bar chairman that its plans for entity regulation are unhelpful to the justice system, in a debate held in London last week.

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.

The Legal Ombudsman is going too far in proposing to allow prospective clients and third parties to complain about lawyers, the Law Society has claimed. Chancery Lane found support from the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.

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.