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 as solicitors, barristers, legal executives and licensed conveyancers, to be
