Turkeys and Christmas

You may have slightly ODd on the turkey last week and only just started to relax after the excesses of Christmas. Don't. Because if you're like the rest of us at Solicitors Journal, you are probably about to seriously OD on another delicacy: alternative business structures.

For this week brings another wafer thin but momentous slice of ABS history to the pages of the legal press taking us closer to saturation point. It is, of course, the week the SRA turns an important chapter in the big book of legal services regulation and starts operating as a licensing authority for ABSs.

On 3 January the regulator unveiled its two-stage application process for prospective ABSs and already it has had near double the number of applications it expected before Christmas. Within a week applications rose from ten to 34 by the time this issue went to press.

So how does it feel to be a prospective ABS? Pretty good. We tried it by filling in the stage one 'expression of interest' online form. Dead easy.

It takes no longer than entering your details in a price comparison website. We didn't want to waste the SRA's time so we didn't actually submit the form. But provided you have the details of your COLPs, COFAs, owners and managers to hand, you'll get it done over lunch.

What happens next is a longer story. You will be sent a bespoke 'stage two' application pack. There is no set format. It may or may not involve in-depth engagement with the SRA. Your application may also be referred to an external consultant if it involves an unusually complex structure. Along the way the SRA will relieve you of £2,000 plus £150 per person, and will charge extra if it takes more than 3.5 days to process, at a rate of £600 a day.

Having so many applicants within a week is undeniably a success for the SRA. As to the application process, its opacity makes it impossible to plan and schedule a go-live date but this should improve with time as the SRA builds up its ABS expertise.

But the matter still to be resolved is whether ABSs will become mainstream or remain a curiosity. If futurologists are right consumers will want to access legal services differently and there could be a space in the market for ABSs. But this is far from certain, and if law firms get their acts together, ABSs could just end up being complete turkeys.