Number of firms granted licences by SRA hits 2012 levels
The number of firms granted alternative business structure (ABS) status in 2013 has now hit the same level as for the whole of 2012, as Shakespeares became the latest mid-tier outfit to announce it has been granted a licence in mid-May.
Shakespeares was the 72nd firm to obtain a licence in 2013, the same number as obtained a licence in total in 2012 after the Solicitors Regulation Authority began accepting applications on 3 January. After a slow start, the first licences were granted in March 2012, when Co-operative Legal Services, Kent family practice Lawbridge Solicitors and Oxfordshire firm John Welch & Stammers became an ABS. 144 firms have now been granted ABS status.
Birmingham-based Shakespeares, which has completed five mergers since 2010, said that the conversion to ABS will enable it to target the insurance sector and that a number of talks with organisations are underway.
Insurance partner Craig Wallace said: ‘Some say that the legal insurance industry is under threat. I disagree, as legal services will remain a purchase of necessity. What ABS does, however, is challenge who will provide these legal services and therefore ultimately where the cost and profit margins sit.’
In April three household name insurers – Admiral, Ageas and RAC – announced significant moves into the legal services market after sealing ABS joint ventures with law firms.
Elsewhere, new legal models continue to make headway across the board; and May also saw fixed-fee legal services outfit Riverview Law sign its first formal strategic alliance with Crawley-based DMH Stallard.
The firms, which are currently in discussions about the impending launch of new fixed-fee products, started working together in October last year and will now offer their respective clients each other’s services in a streamlined package on a permanent basis, following a four-month pilot with existing customers.
LawVest-owned Riverview – which launched in May 2012 and is applying for ABS status – specialises in fixed-fee litigation and legal advisory outsourcing packages, while DMH will add dispute resolution, M&A and property expertise to the shared offering.
Riverview chief executive Karl Chapman said: ‘This alliance comes in direct response to client demands. We have had very fast growth and demands for legal expertise in areas such as dispute resolution, which we currently have to refuse because we don’t have the expertise in-house. We will now work hand in glove with DMH on these jobs.’