Last week the first three firms were given approval to operate as Alternative Business Structures (ABSs) and duly licensed.

For those unfamiliar with the territory, an ABS is a firm where a non-lawyer is a manager of the firm, or has an ownership-type interest in the firm. A firm may also be an ABS where another body is a manager of the firm, or has an ownership-type interest in the firm and at least 10 per cent of that body is controlled by non-lawyers. The Legal Services Act is designed to liberalise the £23bn UK legal market by allowing companies to provide legal services, and Read the full story