Legal Services Act

The German Bar has called on its American counterpart to form an international coalition against alternative business structures. The news comes as the American Bar Association prepares to publish a proposed rule change that would allow minority non-lawyer ownership of law firms, with the New York courts set to rule on the issue too.

Co-operative Legal Services is planning a more extensive pilot of face-to-face advice in its bank branches later this year as it bids to become consumers’ “lawyer of choice”, the company has confirmed. The Co-op has also merged its legal and funeral businesses.

Australia’s Slater & Gordon, the world’s first publicly listed law firm, is “more seriously” evaluating the opportunities available in the UK, the company has revealed. The news comes as S&G and Integrated Legal Holdings – the only other listed legal practice, also in Australia – both announced strong results.

The Legal Services Board has approved changes to the Bar Code of Conduct that will allow barristers to become partners and employees of alternative business structures. The bar’s rulebook as currently drafted would prevents barristers from working for an ABS.

Pioneering US legal services business LegalZoom is planning to launch in the UK next year, Legal Futures can reveal. Senior management are in the UK this week to view possible headquarters for the operation, which has been described as the most recognised legal brand in America.

In the second instalment of our new Legal Pioneers series, we profile Parabis, which currently operates as a co-operative of different insurance-related regulated companies. When the Legal Services Act goes lives, however, integration of legal and non-legal functions and external investment are on the horizon.

Public access barristers will be able to compete more effectively with solicitors for legal aid clients under an urgent rule change being considered by the Bar Standards Board. However, both the speed of and the motivation for the move have been criticised by the Legal Services Consumer Panel.

Rocket Lawyer, the Google-backed American online legal document business, is set to launch in the UK next year and will be looking for lawyers to offer services to its customers, Legal Futures can reveal. The company says the UK is an attractive destination for its products.

Would-be alternative business structures unhappy with decisions taken by the Solicitors Regulation Authority will be able to appeal to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, it has been decided, in a significant step towards the introduction of ABSs.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is unlikely to start licensing alternative business structures (ABSs) until 2012, it has confirmed. The news comes as the authority spelt out the detailed level of information about investors in prospective ABSs that it will expect to see.

A Yorkshire law firm is joining forces with the founder of Freeserve to launch the first of a planned national network of city centre law shops under the brand Legal365, we can reveal. They will form an ABS that could seek external investment.

The Legal Ombudsman has brought its first enforcement actions in the county court after two law firms failed to comply with its orders. In the first case, LeO had told the solicitors to pay £2,650 compensation to their client for paying money to a third party without authorisation.

Strong law firms are getting stronger while the weak are getting weaker as traditional sources of legal work dry up, a new survey seen exclusively by Legal Futures has concluded. The National Solicitors Selling Survey also found that more than half of firms surveyed saw ABSs as a threat.

Mid-tier City law firms may have the greatest incentive to go to the public markets to fund their merger and acquisition activities, the Legal Services Board has suggested. But there is a risk of an “investment bubble” where external investment in alternative business structures proves only temporary for short-term gain.

Nearly a third of the top 100 law firms are considering taking external capital, while a few see floating on a stock exchange as “likely”, new research has claimed. A survey of finance directors at the top 100 by Sweet & Maxwell found that “a significant number” of the firms are considering embracing alternative business structures “at an early stage”.