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Something for everyone?

26 July 2007 / Stephen Mayson
Issue: 7283 / Categories: Features , Profession
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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

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Rylatt and Robyn Laye of Anthony Gold Solicitors examine recent international relocation cases where allegations of domestic abuse shaped outcomes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
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