Sole practitioner becomes ABS to get access to lenders' panels

Nicola Phillips, a sole practitioner specialising in conveyancing, said today that she has decided to convert her firm to an ABS to improve access to lenders’ panels.

She has also decided to promote her mother, Jennifer Coldwell, a non-lawyer who has helped manage the firm, to the rank of partner.

The firm’s ABS licence was approved today and will become effective in a week’s time.

“Because I’m a sole practitioner, I have a lot of problems getting on lenders’ panels,” Phillips said. “I’ve had to employ separate solicitors to act for lenders – there are a lot of stumbling blocks.”

As a result, Phillips said she has decided to join the Law Society’s CQS scheme and convert her firm a two partner ABS.

Phillips will be both the COLP and COFA of her firm, based in Horsham, Sussex. Its license was granted today, and will be effective in a week’s time.

A spokesman for the SRA said more than a dozen other ABS licences were at their final stage and a further 167 Stage 2 applications were still being processed.

It is understood that the regulator has no plans to recruit further staff to its ABS team, though there have been some grumblings by successful applicants at the amount of time taken to get their licences approved.