Silks & solicitors team up for Riverview’s adventure
Riverview Law, a fixed-price legal services provider backed by global law firm DLA Piper, launched this week with a team of solicitors and barristers, including 12 silks.
It will deliver legal advice to small and large businesses through two entities—Riverview Chambers and Riverview Solicitors. Its holding company, LawVest, which is part-owned by DLA Piper and AdviserPlus, aims to apply to become an alternative business structure later this year.
Businesses with up to 1,000 employees will be able to buy annual contracts for all their day-to-day legal support, or receive a fixed-price quote for a particular piece of work.
Riverview’s “legal adviser” service offers unlimited access to legal work including disputes up to the start of proceedings, and is available to businesses with up to 50 employees. Prices start at £200 pcm for businesses with five employees or less. Its “legal counsel” service offers similar terms for businesses with up to 1,000 employees, for a pre-arranged fixed price.
Riverview claims it can keep its prices down because it has low overheads and no expensive city centre premises. Instead, it will have a customer services centre in the Wirral, near Liverpool, and a small London office.
LawVest chief executive Karl Chapman says some law firms had warned him it was “impossible to deliver comprehensive fixed pricing”, but that he would prove them wrong.
Chris Baylis, chief executive of Riverview Chambers, says he would provide “top-quality advice and representation via a barrister-led team with certainty on fees”.
“We believe that we have devised an operating and customer-service model that delivers what businesses want at a price they can understand and budget for.”
The 12 silks include Richard Lissack QC, Jonathan Caplan QC and Stephen Tromans QC. They will remain at their existing chambers. The senior partner of Riverview Solicitors is Andrew Reeves.
Sir Nigel Knowles, joint CEO of DLA Piper and non-executive chairman of LawVest, says: “The Legal Services Act brings about a seismic change in our industry, particularly in the provision of legal services to SMEs.
“It provides clients with an alternative choice for some of their legal needs, which LawVest may be better placed to deliver. It is a very exciting development.”
