ABSs doing well through partnerships with non-legal companies

New alternative business structure (ABS) entrants to the legal profession are winning a lot of business through major affinity and partnership deals with non-legal companies, a report has revealed.

Financial services consultancy company Finaccord surveyed 1,700 actual and potential affinity partner organisations across three categories: not-for-profit partners such as trade associations; financial partners such as banks and insurers; and commercial partners such as estate agents. Some 517 (30%) of the organisations surveyed offered at least one type of legal service, while 248 of these had at least one relationship with a not-for-profit, financial or commercial partner. As reported by Legal Futures, these relationships are making ABS organisations like Slater & Gordon, Quindell Legal Services and Parabis Law among the most "visible" in the legal sector.

Speaking to Legal Futures, Finaccord director Alan Leach said: "We've looked at…legal services companies…with the most partnerships and a lot of them are traditional law firms that have been around for a long time - such as Thompsons, who have prominent ties with trade unions. But there are some other newer names created recently that have got one or two key relationships. You've got Quindell's important tie-up with RAC…[while] Parabis has been working for a few years with AA and Saga and is growing quite quickly. You can divide the legal services providers between the traditional ones and a number of different, aggressive business models."