Legal network first to unveil plan for stock market listing

A network of independent solicitors is the first legal advice provider to have announced plans for listing on the stock exchange.

Set up in 2007, Everyman Legal's business brings together solicitors on a consultant basis and offers a range of online templates directly to clients.

Main founder James Hunt (pictured), a solicitor who set up the first incorporated law firm in 1992 '“ Hunt & Co Solicitors Incorporated '“ said the business would apply for ABS status in early 2012 with a view to seeking flotation by the end of the year.

The intention is to be listed on Sharemark, a stock market for smaller companies, member of the London Stock Exchange and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Hunt said the move reflected his business's approach to 'share the entrepreneurial spirit of our clients and plan to be at the vanguard of the revolution taking place in the legal sector'.

Listing on a smaller stock market would enable the business to start 'forming relationships with potential investors and analysts', Hunt continued, without being weighed down by costs and regulatory burden.

'This is also evidence that smaller law firms can take advantage of the Legal Services Act,' he said.

The company issued convertible loan notes earlier this summer to provide interim development capital. It will start raising funds within 12 months of admission on Sharemark.

Under Sharemark rules, the firm will first need to increase its shareholder base and recruit more solicitors before it can be admitted.

Solicitors part of the Everyman network typically work from home, with their own independent practice and clients, sharing a web-based marketing platform, back-office systems and administrative support through the company's Oxfordshire-based hub in Witney.

The company describes its clients as 'pioneering internet entrepreneurs, media and software companies, precision engineers, care home providers, developers in the new alternative energy sector, construction companies and those in the FTSE 250'.