Legal blog: Under starter's orders

So the law firm ABS (alternative business structures) starting gun seems to have been fired. First out of the blocks is Irwin Mitchell, with a very public declaration that it intends to seek flotation of the business. So confident are the partners that their business model will prove attractive to the public that they have already instructed an army of advisers to take them through the process. Whatever else is likely to follow?

The reaction so far has been muted, but there is no doubt that the level of activity both from law firms appearing receptive to approaches from corporate finance advisers and the number of approaches from advisers to law firms has rocketed over the last few weeks. I am not sure that the profession is any clearer as to what 6 October 2011 and the advent of alternative business structures will bring, but there seems to be an increasing enthusiasm for law firm partners to dip into the world of external investment – or at least explore it. Time will tell.

The wind of change ...

On a separate note, we have all followed with considerable interest the saga of the super-injunction. Whether or not it is appropriate for figures in the public eye to use their position to obtain gagging orders when it suits them, what is becoming increasingly apparent is the significant influence of Europe on how the law in the UK is interpreted, as well as on our insurance industry. We have already seen this in the case of Naomi Campbell v MGN and the European Court of Justice gender ruling. It remains to be seen how far that principle of discrimination will be taken. We can also see European influence being brought to bear on Solvency II and, quite possibly, on contract law.

Lawyers generally like certainty, and they certainly like boundaries. At a time when we have a government in a hurry to bring about change, an economy struggling to recover, Europe seeming to involve itself increasingly in all aspects of our lives, and a legal profession that is about to experience arguably the single largest upheaval that it has ever seen, lawyers generally, and insurance lawyers especially, must brace themselves for some uncertain but exciting times in the coming months.

Managed change that will enhance the customer experience is to be applauded, but changing the management of law firms needs careful thought and transparent execution.

Again, time will tell how the law firms in question perform through this process.

Tim Oliver is president of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL)