Study title

United Kingdom

Organization

Phase 1: A Database of ASBsThe database is confined to ABSs licensed between March 2012 when the SRA first started issuing licenses and 31 August 2015. It is based on archival data encompassing a range of media documents and the collection of routine data complied from several sources. A key aim of creating a database of ABS firms was to identify the types of firms that had chosen to do so, and to record their key characteristics in order to ascertain similarities and differences within the population and how they differed from the wider solicitor firm population. The development of the database involved a number of steps. We started with the SRA’s online register of ABS firms, which provides basic information about each firm. From this, we were able to identify the location of the headquarters ABS firms, their legal status (i.e. LLP, limited company), and whether they were part of publicly quoted companies. We then turned to an online directory compiled by the Law Society, called ‘Find a solicitor’, which is based on data supplied by the SRA and provides details about the organizations and people providing legal services in England and Wales. A profile page is created for each organization, which includes contact details, identifies the type of firm it is (ABS or recognized body) and contains links to other pages providing more detailed information about the firm such as that relating to ‘people’. This includes a list of ‘SRA Approved Managers’, that is, individuals who typically assume the position of Partner, Member or Director and which are regulated by the SRA as being accountable to their organization. In ABS firms, ‘SRA Approved Managers’ include non-lawyers and the online directory provided details of these individuals. We also used the Law Society’s directory to ascertain the size of ABS firms as measured by the number of solicitors and the number of partners (including the number of non-lawyer partners). We also searched the internet for new stories relating to each ABS firm. Although the formation of ABSs was occasionally reported in the national press, most stories originated in trade press, notably, Legal Futures, The Lawyer, and the Solicitors Journal. Taking each firm in turn, we looked for all new stories relating to its formation and supplemented this with any data available from other sources, such as firm websites and sites providing basic searches of companies. We used these news stories to populate further the database where we coded information about whether they were new entrants, conversions, their motivations for becoming an ABS, and attitudes about external investment. This was an iterative process and we revised the coding framework as we uncovered data about different types of ABS firms that did not fit the original categories. Phase 2: Qualitative Interviews In the second phase of the study, our aim was to focus specifically on ABSs that had secured external investment. The initial idea was to four or five in-depth case studies to get a detailed understanding of how these firms operate. However, it as it proved difficult to gain access, we revised our research strategy. Subsequently, we contacted all the ABSs with external investment and private equity investors that had shown interest in investing in the legal services sector to find out about their experiences.We secured 18 interviews altogether. Within the ABS firms, these were undertaken with Directors and partners of the Board / Senior Management team. Typically, they tended to be commercial directors or those with an outward facing role and familiar with undertaking interviews with media. They were willing to participate in the interview because they were interested in the research and reported that colleagues would uninterested and/or too busy to do an interview.