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24 June 2011 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 7471 / Categories: Opinion , Legal services , Profession
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March of the big brand

In his final article on deregulation, Jon Robins focuses on enterprising entrants to the legal services market

When Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden turn their attentions to the dusty world of legal services, it’s probably worth checking out. Smarta.com, founded by the social media entrepreneur Sháá Wasmund with the support of the two Dragons, last month announced that they were to partner with RBS and Natwest to launch a legal service aimed at small and medium-sized businesses under its “Smarta Business Builder” banner. “I’m not just proud to recommend Smarta Business Builder, I’m suggesting that all small businesses use it too,” enthused Theo on the press release.

Making legal services affordable to cash-strapped start-up businesses is a compelling prospect. RBS also runs Mentor, a regulatory compliance service for 14,000 businesses, and RiskRemedy, an online self-service employment law and health and safety compliance package also aimed at the SME market.

Opportunity knocks

John Muncey, head of Mentor, sees deregulation of legal services as a “huge opportunity” for RBS and reckons

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

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
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’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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