Alternative Business Structures

Alternative Business Structures (ABSs) are legal practices licensed under the Legal Services Act 2007, which may have non-lawyer owners or managers, or be multi-disciplinary practices with members of other professions.

We have advised on licensing of a wide variety of ABSs, some of them highly innovative, from large scale commercial organisations such as Riverview Law, to small practices.

For some clients this means advising right through the procedure, including complex issues and representation at meetings with licensing authorities such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority; for others it may be guidance on specific aspects.

The wide variety of ABS opportunities may give rise to interesting challenges with much technical detail, such as conflicts of interest and restrictions on investor/manager involvement in separate

Once a licence has been obtained, we also advise on the legal aspects of compliance.

Frank Maher has spoken on the topic at events in the USA and Europe.