ABS brings together conveyancing with estate agency and financial advice


SRA: application process “a nightmare”

A solicitor has merged her law practice with the family estate agency and finance business in an alternative business structure (ABS) that is thought to be the first in Cumbria.

Sole practitioner Kelly Walsh is winding up her Grange-over-Sands-based firm, KW Legal, in order to join her father-in-law’s business, Home and Finance IFA Limited (H&F).

The ABS will be called H&F Legal. It received its licence from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in March, effective from the beginning of this month. But the application process was described as “a nightmare”.

H&F, headquartered in Ulverston, combines an estate agency, financial advice, insurance and life cover, and has branch offices in Millom and Barrow-in-Furness.

Ms Walsh told Legal Futures she had been referred H&F’s conveyancing for some years but that “as a sole practitioner I was finding it difficult to get on all the mortgage panels”. The hope was that “by becoming an ABS, we’d be able to circumnavigate that problem”.

The ABS will immediately employ a further two lawyers and paralegal support staff “so we can have lawyers in all three of the offices”, she said.

She said the business would be a “standalone” service and “it will increase its growth without just relying on the existing customer base”. Creating an ABS “shows other local legal firms that we mean business and we are not just doing it to complement the estate agency, for instance”.

Ms Walsh said the ABS application process was “a nightmare” that only improved once the application – submitted at the beginning of August – was assigned a case handler in December. The handler was “really helpful and very good”. However, she added: “The questions we’ve been asked at times have been a little ridiculous.”

She said the firm had only decided to put in the application when it heard the process had been speeded up. “We thought that’s fantastic, we will submit the application now and we can be trading in January.” But the time taken by the SRA meant the plan had been delayed by several months.

Last week the SRA announced plans to encourage more multi-disciplinary ABSs.

Tags:




Leave a Comment

By clicking Submit you consent to Legal Futures storing your personal data and confirm you have read our Privacy Policy and section 5 of our Terms & Conditions which deals with user-generated content. All comments will be moderated before posting.

Required fields are marked *
Email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Blog


Keeping the conversation going beyond Pride Month

As I reflect on all the celebrations of Pride Month 2024, I ask myself why there remains hesitancy amongst LGBTQ+ staff members about when it comes to being open about their identity in the workplace.


Third-party managed accounts: Your key questions answered

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has given strong indications that it is headed towards greater restrictions on law firms when it comes to handling client money.


Understanding vicarious trauma in the legal workplace

Vicarious trauma can happen to anyone who works with clients who have experienced trauma such as domestic or other violence, child abuse, sexual assault, torture or being a refugee.


Loading animation