Fast-growing Welsh personal injury firm, NewLaw, has become the first Legal Disciplinary Partnership in the UK to be licensed as an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority.
The Legal Services Act has changed the landscape for the future of legal services in the UK, enabling non-lawyers to own and invest in legal practices. Law firms have been able to apply to be licensed for ABS status since January 2012.
NewLaw, headquartered in Cardiff, is extremely proud to be the UK’s first LDP to achieve ABS status and to be the first licensed ABS in Wales.
NewLaw was founded in 2004 against the backdrop of the proposed reforms that ultimately led to the Legal Services Act in 2007. Helen Molyneux, Chief Executive Officer of NewLaw Solicitors said:
“This is an extremely proud moment for our business. NewLaw was founded in anticipation of the legal services market being opened up to non-lawyer ownership. Since then we have shaped the business to take on a corporate structure in anticipation of this moment. Our ABS status will give added momentum to the joint venture business strategies that we have been evolving for some time.”
NewLaw Solicitors works strategically with general insurers and brokers, formulating strategies to enable them to offer legal services. Philip Dicken, Strategic Partnerships Director said:
“ABS status is fantastic news for NewLaw. This development will enable us to drive forward with the strategies that we have been pursuing and to enable our insurer and broker clients to provide legal services under their own brands.”
Since its inception in 2004, NewLaw has been on the leading edge of innovation in the legal services market, being one of the first law firms in England and Wales to achieve Lexcel 5.
Antony Townsend, SRA Chief Executive, said,
“We’re delighted to have named NewLaw as our first LDP to be licensed as an ABS. Licensing ABSs represents for us a milestone we have been working towards for nearly two years.
“The arrival of ABS should foster a more flexible and innovative market, stimulating competition, encouraging innovation and boosting consumers’ experiences.”