Insurance industry “shaping the law firm M&A agenda”, say experts
Professional indemnity insurers are starting to shape the UK legal sector as they exert their influence during law firm mergers and acquisitions, experts have warned. Their attitude towards a firm’s target is becoming a significant influence on who buys whom – and who doesn’t.
Pioneering ABS combines legal and accounting services
The first alternative business structure to market itself as a firm offering both legal and accountancy services has been licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Direct Law & Finance Ltd is a firm of solicitors and accountants based in Brentford, west London.
Top City firms aim to develop human rights principles to guide work
Some of the country’s biggest law firms are moving closer to establishing stand-alone human rights policies, it has emerged. Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters and Herbert Smith Freehills are among those working towards creating policies.
Direct Line hits £125m from solicitors since 2009 after scooping final £6m in referral fees
Direct Line Group – which last month announced plans to launch its own legal business – made a final £6.1m in referral fees from solicitors this year before the ban was introduced on 1 April, its half-year results have shown.
Internet marketers launch map-based direct access service
An internet marketing specialist has launched a new map directory for public access barristers. Nick Draycott, director of GoDirect2Barristers.com, has adapted online mapping technology to produce a site which he argues offers improved direct access to the Bar.
Earnings up sharply at leading conveyancing ABS
Countrywide plc has reported a “promising first half trading performance” for its conveyancing division, with income up 4% and earnings 12%. Countrywide Property Lawyers is an alternative business structure regulated by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers.
SRA “loosening shackles” of separate business rule
There are signs of the Solicitors Regulation Authority relaxing its strict interpretation of a key rule which may be “dampening” innovation and new entrants to the market, according to the Legal Services Board.
Call for ‘intervention lite’ to turn around distressed firms and halt asset-stripping
The Solicitors Regulation Authority needs to establish a new expert panel that would be called in to help avoid formal intervention into failing law firms – dubbed ‘intervention lite’ – a specialist solicitor has claimed.
Legal Services Board mulls formal probe into SRA’s handling of ABS applications
The Legal Services Board is weighing up whether to launch a formal investigation into the way the Solicitors Regulation Authority is handling alternative business structure applications, Legal Futures can reveal.
Interventions fall but number of solicitors struck off rises by more than half
There has been a 25% fall in the number of law firms closed down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in the past year, new figures have revealed. But despite the number of solicitors before the tribunal also falling, there was a 55% increase in the number of strike-offs.
