Niche ABS goes public ahead of market listing “in three or four years”
A niche health and social care alternative business structure has incorporated as a public limited company as a prelude to a future expansion and stock exchange listing. Ridouts Solicitors has no immediate plans to become a listed company but was getting it “ducks in a row” so as to be ready for when it happens.
SRA considers publishing firms’ complaints and claims records as quality indicators
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is considering whether to make data on complaints and insurance claims against law firms available to consumers as “possible indicators of quality”, it has revealed. It may also introduce logos to denote to consumers that firms are regulated and covered by the SRA’s compensation fund.
QC forms his own law firm to “modernise access to barrister services”
A leading white collar crime barrister said this week that he may conduct straightforward litigation through his new Bar Standards Board-authorised entity. Bright Line Law, launched this week, is the brainchild of Jonathan Fisher QC and was devised in part as an attempt to bring together the various strands of his activities.
Exclusive: Kent Legal Services chief lays out blueprint for ABS
The move to move Kent County Council’s legal team into an alternative business structure (ABS) is now well underway, with a white-label service to private law firms for routine work likely to be part of its offering, Legal Futures can reveal.
Scots seek freedom for their notaries in England and Wales
The failure to give Scottish notaries public the right to practise in England and Wales is having a “significant impact on clients in terms of cost and inconvenience”, the Law Society of Scotland has claimed. While intra-UK practice rights for solicitors have been in place since 1990, there are no corresponding provisions concerning notaries public.
Slater & Gordon’s share price slides 15% on back of confirmed losses
Slater & Gordon’s core UK business lost A$64m (£37m) in the year to 30 June 2016, while it spent A$33m on reorganising operations over here, the listed firm’s annual results have revealed. The company had already prepared the market for the group’s headline loss of A$1.02bn but still its shares fell 15% in trading.
Finally – insurers get it in the neck for not passing on whiplash savings
The insurance industry had a taste of its own PR medicine over the weekend after The Times accused insurers of “cheating motorists” by not passing on whiplash savings. Meanwhile, cold-calling was back on the agenda after separate announcements by Which?, the Information Commissioner and National Accident Helpline.
Suspension for solicitor who allowed “financial chaos” to reign at firm
A solicitor who oversaw “financial chaos” in his practice has been suspended, with a tribunal imposing conditions on his return to the profession in the future to ensure he does not hold a management position. He was also sanctioned for failing to co-operate with the Legal Ombudsman.
Lawyer-matching service for SMEs bids to crowdfund £360k as it eyes major growth
A lawyer-matching service for SMEs has raised £50,000 in less than three days as it bids to crowdfund £360,000 for the next stage of its development. LawyerFair told potential investors that “legal services are an inefficient, low innovation marketplace” and that within three years it would be turning over £4.6m.
Woman who used conveyancers to litigate probate dispute told to repay money lost to estate
A woman who obtained a grant of letters of administration and then used a firm of licensed conveyancers to defend herself against a claim from other potential beneficiaries, has been told by the High Court that she has to pay back to the estate nearly £87,000 given to the firm that has been lost.
