Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke has expressed the hope that the advent of alternative business structures could have as dramatic an impact on legal services as the so-called ‘Big Bang’ of 1986 had on the financial sector.

He was speaking on Wednesday at the CityUK Future Litigation event held at the offices of Clifford Chance. He said: “As for domestic regulation, we are less than a month away from an historic change – the introduction of Alternative Business Structures on October 6 that will allow solicitors, barristers and other professionals to combine together in new ways, should they choose to, for the benefit of the consumer. Time will tell, but I hope that comparisons with the Big Bang in 1986 do not prove entirely fanciful.” Read the full story