ABS in Scotland to get Equality with England & Wales
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ABS in Scotland to get Equality with England & Wales

Alternative Business Structures (ABS) in Scotland are to get equality with those in England & Wales. This was announced on 22 December 2022 as part of the Scottish Government’s response to the findings of the legal services regulation reform in Scotland consultation analysis report [PDF]. It was also announced before the first ABS has even…

Legal Services Regulation Reform in Scotland: Consultation Analysis Reviewed – Part 4: Business Structures
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Legal Services Regulation Reform in Scotland: Consultation Analysis Reviewed – Part 4: Business Structures

This post, on business structures, is the fourth in a series of five blog posts, each one looking at different aspects of the Consultation Analysis on Legal Services Regulation Reform in Scotland. That consultation comes on the back of the ‘Roberton Review‘, which was an independent Review commissioned by the Scottish Government in 2017 and…

Inksters : 22 years later…
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Inksters : 22 years later…

Twenty-two years ago today I formed and opened Inksters. Inksters in the Beginning Way back then it was just me and my PA, Fiona, in a small office in Oswald Street, Glasgow. I decided to set up my own law firm, Inksters, as I was frustrated by the partnership model (although I had never been…

Atrium’s mistakes from the Horse’s mouth : An analysis
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Atrium’s mistakes from the Horse’s mouth : An analysis

I wrote a couple of detailed blog posts last year about the demise of Atrium (the Californian legal start-up that burned $75.5 million of VC funding in its short existence):  (1) Is the Atrium ‘pivot’ really shades of Clearspire? and (2) Atrium: A Post-mortem. I also took an opposite view from Artificial Lawyer about his…

When you can combine venture capital with legal services

Artificial Lawyer this morning posted an article entitled: ‘It’s hard to combine venture capital with professional services’ – Atrium Co-Founder, Augie Rakow The premise taken by Artificial Lawyer from an interview with Augie Rakow was that Atrium didn’t work out because of this combination. Artificial Lawyer observes that:- scaling up a law firm from scratch…

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Atrium: A Post-mortem

On Tuesday (3 March 2020) Tech Crunch broke the news that Atrium, the Californian based hybrid legal software and law firm, was shutting down. Tech Crunch said this was “after failing to figure out how to deliver better efficiency than a traditional law firm”. Atrium has now laid off all its employees, which totaled just…

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Is the Atrium ‘pivot’ really shades of Clearspire?

Last week Atrium, the Californian law firm / legal tech company dedicated to serving the needs of startups, announced it was pairing back its law firm operation by laying off an unspecified number of lawyers (although it would appear to be most of them) and pivoting to their next phase of growth. They will apparently:-…

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Flushed for Success: Loo Law Launches

When tech entrepreneur Sidney James approached me to write an exclusive about the launch of his new and first legal tech initiative, ‘Loo Law’, I was a bit sceptical. At first it sounded quite bizarre but the more I heard about it the more interesting it became. Was this real legal innovation at play? Sidney’s…

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Remaking Law Firms ~ Why & How : Reviewed

I promised a review of ‘Remaking Law Firms – Why & How’ by George Beaton and Imme Kaschner in 2016 shortly after its publication. However, it has taken me a year to read and review it purely because my attention was diverted away from The Time Blawg and to blogging about the law as opposed…

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Future Law: IT and Legal Practice Predictions for 2014

… A couple of days ago I looked back to what happened in 2013. Today I will look forward to what might happen in 2014. I first made legal IT predictions in 2011 on this blog. I will for 2014 follow the same format and topics (with perhaps some extra ones thrown in at the end)….

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The Time Blawg – Two Years On (Part 4: QualitySolicitors)

… On 1 January 2011, The Time Blawg materialised. One year ago I looked back at the first year of The Time Blawg – One Year On. Over the past few weeks I have looked back at what went on during the second year of The Time Blawg with specific reference to Social Media: The Time…