A Leap Into The Unknown
Posted By Rob Millard - 0 Comments -
Today's (31 May 06) The Lawyer.com published in London contains an article titled A Leap Into The Unknown commenting on the upcoming changes to the legal landscape in England and Wales. The new bill was unveiled on 24 May and is currently undergoing "detailed scrutiny by a joint committee of the Houses of Parliament, comprising six Law Lords and six MPs. The committee is to be chaired by Lord Hunt of Wirral, the Conservative peer and former senior partner of Beachcroft, and includes Serle Court head Lord Neill of Bladen QC as well as a number of other former barristers and solicitors."
This is a topic that any law firm with interests in England and Wales needs to be sure that they are well and truly 'up to speed' on.
The possibilities of IPOs for major law firms has been punted occasionally in the media over the past few months. Nigel Knowles, managing partner of DLA Piper Rudnick, pours cold water on the idea. As he says in the article: "One of the best things I could do for Nigel Knowles would be to IPO the firm. Would that be good for the firm? No."
Links to several of the foundation documents relating to this new legislation, which could quite feasibly FUNDAMENTALLY TRANSFORM the way law is practiced in England and Wales (as is clearly the intent,) are provided in a previous posting on this blog, titled Biggest Upheaval Since the Romans Went Home. A case study of a law firm that sold itself to a bank and then bought itself back was described in the posting External Ownership of Law Firms and I also commented on this topic in Deconstruction and Re-aggregation of the Professions. Readers of The American Lawyer will also find a piece written by me (titled Inclement Weather) on page 13 of the April 2006 edition.
Comments, as always, are most welcome and may be posted below.
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