ABS firsts: licences granted to a PLC and a privately-backed firm
updated on 10 January 2013
The Alternative Business Structure (ABS) model has facilitated two more firsts for the profession with the granting of ABS licences by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to long-standing advocates of the new ownership approach, Knights Solicitors and Quindell Portfolio.
Knights Solicitors, which is owned by James Caan's private equity company, Hamilton Bradshaw, has become the first UK-based commercial law firm to raise private capital. As reported by The Law Society Gazette, the firm's managing partner, David Beech, heralded the move as a positive step for Knights' ambition to become a top 100 UK law firm. Meanwhile, Quindell Portfolio PLC is the first stock-exchange-listed company to move into legal services - a decision that continues a period of great expansion for Quindell.
Antony Townsend, the SRA's chief executive, welcomed the news: "ABS applicants have proved to be highly innovative and forward thinking, whether they are existing legal bodies looking to grow successful business models, proposing to grow by acquisition or creating joint ventures, or entirely new entrants to the legal services market wanting to take market share in areas of law traditionally serviced purely by all-lawyer firms. This application is yet another example of that innovative thinking."
