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08 May 2015 / Kerry Underwood
Issue: 7651 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Profession
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Chronicle of a death foretold (Pt 1)

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Kerry Underwood documents the spectacular failure of ABSs

Alternative business structures (ABSs) were put in place to justify an attempt to eradicate lawyers from representing ordinary members of the public. Not surprisingly they have proved to be a spectacular failure, both individually and conceptually.

It will be a central theme of this three-part series on the decline and fall of ABSs that governments of all persuasions, along with civil servants, many academics and the usual suspects in terms of advisers and self-selected consumer spokespeople have wholly misunderstood the role and nature of law and lawyers and the judicial process leading to reforms that have deeply damaged this country and threaten to set it on the road to totalitarianism.

Some observers believe that this is a deliberate and calculated attack on a system (the courts) and a profession (lawyers) who do not do the government’s bidding, whatever the colour of that government. Legal aid cuts are cited as key evidence by the conspiracy theorists. No-one, not even the government, maintains

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harper James—Lottie Hugo

Harper James—Lottie Hugo

Commercial law firm announces appointment of corporate partner

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
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