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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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Birketts—trainee cohort

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NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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