ABS are go for launch

A joint statement was issued on 6 October by the Legal Services Board, the SRA and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) to mark the first day that alternative business structures (ABS) and other new forms of legal service business are allowed to operate. The statement was headed: "Thursday 6 October is an important milestone for the modernisation of the legal services market in England and Wales."

One of the most significant reforms within the Legal Services Act 2007, the statement goes on to say that the act allows "new entrants to deliver legal services in new ways", primarily by way of ABS.  And the very first ABS to hit town? Legal Futures reports exclusively that the first company to become an operating ABS is Premier Property Lawyers, one of the largest conveyancing businesses in the country and the conveyancing arm of myhomemove.com. It will be regulated by the CLC.

The CLC is in fact the only body that is currently authorised as a licensing authority under the act, as the SRA's authorisation has been delayed until early 2012.