The Law Society of Upper Canada will continue to dither
on Alternative Business Structures and will make no decision on this creature in 2015;
With the debate
on alternative business structures heating up, a University of Windsor Faculty of Law professor has prepared a study — commissioned by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association — that questions one of the benefits touted by proponents: improved access to justice.
The prospect of Tesco or the Co-op owning a law firm or offering legal services had leader writers in the English legal press in a tizzy, but the Legal Services Board today produced a complex consultation document
on Alternative Business Structures which sets out eligibility tests for significant equity investments in firms providing legal services.
the Law Society of Upper Canada working group
on alternative business structures issued a report advising that it «does not propose to further examine any majority or controlling non-licensee ownership models for traditional law firms in Ontario at this time» but it will continue to explore options for «more limited non-licensee ownership models.»
The work in the Prairie provinces began with a focus
on alternative business structures (ABS).
He was the keynote speaker in 2012 at the Federation of Law Societies of Canada
on Alternative Business Structures, and subsequently made presentations on ABS to Benchers at Law Society of British Columbia and Barreau du Québec, and three times to Benchers of Law Society of Upper Canada.
Scotland, for example, allows up to 49 % non-lawyer ownership in order to maintain lawyer control, and British Columbia's 2011 report
on Alternative Business Structures spoke approvingly of this middle way.
Looking at current initiatives like the Nova Scotia's Barristers» Society's Transforming Regulation consultation and the work of the Law Society of Upper Canada's Working Group
on Alternative Business structures, it is apparent that right now there is significant «big picture» thinking going on at Canadian law societies about how to innovate and modernize lawyer regulation.
The recent Law Society Committee report
on Alternative Business Structures has resulted in much excitement across the world among legal innovators.
«Comments on Issues Paper
on Alternative Business Structures.»
«Submission
on Alternative Business Structures.»
Letter to the Law Society of Upper Canada's Working Group
on Alternative Business Structures.
«ABA Proposal
on Alternative Business Structures.»
Equity Advisory Group Working Group
on Alternative Business Structures.
[19] Women's Paralegal Association of Ontario, Letter to the Law Society of Upper Canada's Working Group
on Alternative Business Structures, January 30, 2015, 2 - 3, http://www.lsuc.on.ca/uploadedFiles/Womens%20Paralegal%20Association%20of%20Ontario.pdf.
Gehl, Nicholas E. Letter to the Law Society of Upper Canada's Working Group
on Alternative Business Structures.
Memo to the Law Society of Upper Canada's Working Group
on Alternative Business Structures.
It would be really easy to read last week's report from the Law Society of Upper Canada's Working Group
on Alternative Business Structures as thoughtful and considered.
In August of last year, however, the CBA Legal Futures Initiative released its report Futures: Transforming the Delivery of Legal Services in Canada
on alternative business structures (ABSs) and multi-disciplinary practices (MDPs).
The modules Thompson Rivers students will work on include drawing up a memo
on an alternative business structure for their company, as well as blogging about activities and using cloud - based practice management systems.
Not exact matches
Blake counsels asset managers and broker - dealers
on all aspects of the development and distribution of
alternative investment products, including registered investment companies,
business development companies, and other permanent or long - term capital
structures, as well as hedge funds and private equity funds.
, at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2811627; (2) «
Alternative Business Structures» «Charity Step» to Ending the General Practitioner» (SSRN, pdf), at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3020489; and, (3) my forthcoming post
on Slaw for Tuesday, October 3rd, «' Apps» and the Waning of the Solicitor - Client Relationship.»
Gordon, Thomas M. «Comments
on:
Alternative Business Structures.»
-- «Comments
On: Issues Paper Regarding
Alternative Business Structures.»
«ABA Commission
on the Future of Legal Services —
Alternative Business Structures.»
-- «Comments
on:
Alternative Business Structures.»
«Standing Committee
on Professionalism Comment
on Issues Paper Regarding
Alternative Business Structures.»
Caldwell, J. Richard, Jr. «Report
on «
Alternative Business Structures.
«New York State Bar Association's Comments
on the ABA Commission
on the Future of Legal Services» Issues Papers
on Legal Checkups, Unregulated LSP Entities and
Alternative Business Structures.»
Technology, the glut of new lawyers, structural changes in BigLaw,
alternative business structures, the growth of intelligent forms — all are leaving a lasting impression
on the practice of law.
A noteworthy aspect of the Canadian debate
on whether to introduce
alternative business structures into the legal services sector is the emphasis being given to the potential of ABS to improve access to justice.
However, Susan Brown, director at law firm Prolegal, said: «Introducing a system which has no certainty of reducing costs and could equally well increase them, will undoubtedly lead to satellite litigation, will make it more difficult for claimants to find an experienced personal lawyer to represent them, and is extremely dangerous at a time when the legal services industry is
on the brink of the major upheaval that will result from the introduction of
alternative business structures.»
The jury is still out
on whether, or when,
alternative business structures may enter the Canadian legal market.
She is at work
on a book - length look at the effect of
alternative business structures on legal practice in the U.K., Australia and the U.S., to be released by ABA Publishing.
Looking further ahead, when
alternative business structures come into effect, which is currently predicted for 2011, there will presumably be the need for a major overhaul of the rules
on separate
businesses and recognised bodies.
[i] See this statement
on LSUC's website: «The Law Society released
Alternative Business Structures and the Legal Profession in Ontario: A Discussion Paper
on September 24, 2014, to seek input from lawyers, paralegals, stakeholders and the public about
Alternative Business Structures (ABS).»
This, the third in a series of videos in which law students put questions to Berwin Leighton Paisner managing partner Neville Eisenberg, looks at the impact of
alternative business structures and the return of the big accounting firms to law
on the legal market of the future.
See my papers
on Slaw: (1) «Legal Advice Services Can not be Automated by
Alternative Business Structures,» October 10, 2014; (2) «CanLII as the solution to the unaffordable legal services problem,» October 24, 2013; (3) «LSUC's Worrisome ABS Proposals,» November 25, 2014.
This, the third in a series of videos in which law students put questions to Berwin Leighton Paisner managing partner Neville Eisenberg, looks at the impact of
alternative business structures on the legal market, and the ways in which big law firms are developing innovative ways of delivering value to their clients.
With the Scottish Government currently working
on a new regulatory framework that should see so - called
alternative business structures (ABS) introduced in the near future, Mr Boyd said that «ABS is something we would obviously use».
In the US, «
alternative business structures» and «ABSs» are also often used, but so are expressions like «
alternative law practice
structures,» (an expression occasionally used by the ABA Commission
on Ethics 20/20), and «
alternative law firm
structures.»
While
alternative business structures are gaining all the headlines right now, something perhaps even more fundamental is going
on this year: the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR).
As we're
on the topic of
alternative business structures (ABS) in the legal profession, I'm just curious as to whether there is any speculation with regard to the new ``.
Another take
on this is the formation of Kim Technologies, which has helped its parent Riverview Law (an
alternative business structure in the U.K.), transition away from being a legal services provider enabled by technology that is unable to carry
on business in North America.
As is apparent from the OTLA, and the many comments
on my previous post, the upcoming Bencher elections in Ontario finally have an issue that has grabbed the attention of lawyers across the province:
Alternative Business Structures.
Lawyers
On Demand (LOD) is no stranger to
Alternative Business Structure (ABS) innovation, having been the first flexible legal service provider in the UK — pairing freelance lawyers with clients who need a more versatile legal offering.
And it is done
on terms not materially different from those of «
alternative business structures» in the UK and Australia.
The legal
business model is both expanding globally and, closer to home, taking
on new dimensions in
alternative and complementary
business structures.
Last year, the University of St. Mary's School of Law selected Jayne Reardon, Executive Director of the Illinois Supreme Court Commission
on Professionalism, to write a piece about the possibility of lawyers practicing in an
alternative business structure (ABS) for the school's law review.
Instead, the Commission recommends that the Entity Regulation /
Alternative Business Structures Working Group develop a White Paper
on how to «help lawyers and law firms think more systematically about how to better serve clients.»