External capital will energise the legal market, says Mark Sharpley
The Legal Services Act 2007 pushed through radical legal reform and English and Welsh lawyers will soon have the opportunity to become much more competitive and financed in different ways.
New possibilities arising from the ability to attract external capital funding will allow lawyers to go into partnership with non-lawyers and we are going to find lawyers in new markets, for example, a matrimonial or personal injury department could, in theory, be set up in order to provide an exclusive service to insurance companies, in relation to the processing of claims. If the customer base is solid and attractive, raising capital from a bank or other investment vehicle should be relatively straightforward.
External investment
By moving the goalposts even further, it is quite possible, with some vision, that large firms could look to the stock market in its various forms, with a view to flotation. This gives a significant advantage in terms of growth as it may allow partners to be rewarded for their endeavours as a one-off payment, and provide security to the individual fee
