ABSs will make legal services “more accessibleâ€, Djanogly says
As the first ABS applications arrived at the SRA today, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said the change would make legal services “more accessibleâ€.
As the first ABS applications arrived at the SRA today, justice minister Jonathan Djanogly said the change would make legal services 'more accessible'.
Djanogly said ABSs would benefit consumers, by providing a 'much more competitive and efficient service', and allow law firms to explore new markets abroad, as well as encouraging inward investment into the UK.
He said the addition of the 'much larger' SRA to the only existing ABS regulator, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, would enable 'thousands more firms' to take advantage of the new structure.
The justice minister said the receipt of the first applications marked 'another major milestone for UK legal services' and the future of ABSs.
'Our UK legal services are unrivalled around the world and these changes will allow them to reach new heights, as solicitors' firms develop new markets, join up with other businesses to offer different products and provide opportunities for growth,' he said.
Sir Nigel Knowles, managing partner and joint CEO of DLA Piper, said the arrival of ABSs would see 'far more mergers and acquisitions' within the legal sector.
He went on: 'The nature of this M&A will be both international, with more overseas firms looking to get a footprint in the UK, and domestic, with larger players buying up smaller high street operations to build scale.
'Whilst the first major law firm IPO may still be a couple of years away, we will see smaller legal IPOs and the framework of the sector changing as the major companies seek to acquire greater market share.'
Sir Nigel said 2012 would be characterised by 'yet more political and economic uncertainty across the Eurozone' and 'earnings will be the key for most companies of scale, irrespective of their sector'.