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15 March 2012
Issue: 7505 / Categories: Legal News
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Partnership decline

ABSs & LDPs will be the practice structure of choice, predicts legal expert

Law firm partnerships will cease to be the norm in future, as banks become less willing to lend and lawyers wise up to the benefits of external investment.

Instead, alternative business structures (ABSs) and legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) will be the practice structure of choice, writes NLJ consultant editor David Greene, senior partner at Edwin Coe.

Recent events such as Australian firm Slater & Gordon’s takeover of Russell Jones & Walker, and Quindell Portfolio’s approach to personal injury firm Silverbeck Rymer indicate the potential scale of reform.

“These changes are likely to receive a fillip from other changes in litigation services and in particular the Jackson reforms,” writes Greene.

He notes how the proposed ban on referral fees in personal injury cases is likely to push both insurance companies and case-management companies into forming ABSs in order to profit from the litigation process.

Issue: 7505 / Categories: Legal News
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

HFW—Simon Petch

HFW—Simon Petch

Global shipping practice expands with experienced ship finance partner hire

Freeths—Richard Lockhart

Freeths—Richard Lockhart

Infrastructure specialist joins as partner in Glasgow office

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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