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26 July 2007 / Stephen Mayson
Issue: 7283 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Something for everyone?

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It is time to rethink the delivery of legal services, says Professor Stephen Mayson

A key part of the Legal Services Bill is the proposal for alternative business structures (ABSs). The legal structures that ABSs might adopt—such as partnership, limited liability partnership, limited company or public limited company—already exist. There are no alternative structures in this sense.
What the Bill sets out is simply a licensing framework for businesses carrying out reserved legal activities where 10% or more of the ownership or management of those businesses is under the control of non-lawyers. These structures are alternatives to the ownership of law firms only by qualified lawyers. In allowing these alternatives, it will encourage a different combination of services and products alongside legal advice, as well as different ways of delivering them to clients.

LEGAL DISCIPLINARY PRACTICES

Sir David Clementi’s idea of legal disciplinary practices (LDPs) in his Review of the Regulatory Framework for Legal Services in England and Wales was not incorporated into the ABS provisions. LDPs would allow “lawyers” from different backgrounds, such

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Sponsored by
WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

Commercial property and child law teams expand with senior hires

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Set expands London and Singapore offering with senior international disputes hires

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Firm strengthens real estate and litigation teams with partner promotions

NEWS
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Five years after the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 came into force, concerns remain that the family courts continue to minimise allegations of abuse in child contact disputes
NLJ this week: Uber’s legal shield faces scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic
Uber has built a formidable strategy for insulating itself from liability for drivers’ conduct, but the legal terrain differs sharply between the US and England and Wales
NLJ this week: Is it finally time to scrap Part III?
The Civil Justice Council’s review of Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 could mark the end of what one commentator calls an ‘outdated’ and overly technical regime governing solicitor-client fee disputes
NLJ this week: Hereditary peers era finally comes to an end
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 marks a constitutional watershed by severing the centuries-old link between hereditary titles and automatic membership of the upper chamber
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