The UK arm of legal publishing giant LexisNexis has been awarded an alternative business structure (ABS) licence by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and hired Duane Morris compliance and technology partner Jonathan Armstrong to spearhead its new business, Cordery Compliance.
Cordery is aimed at helping compliance professionals and general counsel manage the ‘ever-increasing regulatory burden,’ LexisNexis said in an announcement this week.
The new service will provide solutions based on technology, content and advisory services, building on the publisher’s existing compliance products introduced in recent years, including LexisPSL Practice Compliance.
Compliance is an area said by many general counsel to be underserviced by leading City firms, with legal futurologists such as Richard Susskind having long predicted that publishers will form part of the entrepreneurial post-Legal Services Act 2007 vanguard that stir up the way legal services are delivered. The move follows the acquisition by rival publisher Thomson Reuters of legal process outsourcing group Pangea3 in 2010.
Armstrong said: ‘For the past 20 years, I have advised heads of legal, general counsel and compliance professionals in dealing with the challenges of navigating ever more complex regulatory requirements. For in-house lawyers particularly dealing with compliance is often a lonely experience.
‘Compliance will be our heart and soul and we will help our clients effectively manage the compliance burden.’
Managing director for LexisNexis UK & Ireland Christian Fleck, added: ‘Legal and regulatory information has been our lifeblood for nearly 200 years. Driven by the ever-increasing regulatory burden, we have had great success with practical compliance solutions in the last couple of years. With Cordery, we are taking the next step and we are looking forward to providing a wider solution to compliance professionals across industries.’
Sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk
