Barristers seek urgent rule change to allow them to compete more with solicitors
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.
Exclusive: Google-backed US online legal service plans UK launch in 2012
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.
Launch of ABSs clears major hurdle
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.
SRA highlights investor scrutiny as it prepares to start licensing ABSs in “early 2012”
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.
Yorkshire firm partners with Freeserve founder to launch chain of city centre law shops
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.
Ombudsman takes solicitors to court for failing to comply with orders
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.
Survival of fittest as strong firms grow stronger and weak firms weaker, says survey
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.
SRA to demand detailed complaints information from law firms
Law firms will this year have to give the Solicitors Regulation Authority a detailed breakdown of the number and type of complaints they have received in the past 12 months, as part of the process of renewing their authorisation.
LSB: mid-tier City firms could be main targets of external investment
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 top firms “considering external investment”, says survey
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”.
