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16 March 2012 / David Greene
Issue: 7505 / Categories: Opinion , Legal services , Profession
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Time for a new model?

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Has the partnership model had its day? David Greene reports

Way back in 2007, the main change perpetrated by the Legal Services Act seemed to be a shake-up in regulation of solicitors overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). One would hardly have considered at the time that other provisions of the Legal Services Act were going to set the world alight. The latest piece in the Legal Services Act jigsaw, however, the creation of alternative business structures (ABSs), may yet convert the Act into the legal service’s “big bang.”

A brief history

The Legal Services Act 2007 brought changes in three areas of practice.
 

  • First, it created the LSB to oversee the regulation of legal services by approved regulators such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Bar Standards Board. When the Council for Licensed Conveyancers also secured a licence from the LSB, it was thought that perhaps competition between regulators might open up the market. That may well happen in the future, but the changes thus far
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MOVERS & SHAKERS

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Commercial firm strengthens real estate disputes team with associate hire

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Six promoted to partner and one to legal director across UK and Ireland offices

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