City law firms do not generally see alternative business structures as attractive, because they are reluctant to cede control of the firm to source external funding that they do not need.

This is one conclusion of the first of a series of studies looking at the supply of legal services in England and Wales, commissioned by the Legal Services Board. Carried out by consultancy Charles Rivers Associates, the study considers the regulation of City firms and how they operate in the legal services market.

The report adds: ‘[City firms do not] see huge demand for providing a wider range of services beyond the experts they are able to bring in-house anyway.

‘In addition, offering a wider set of services, and having partners who are not lawyers, brings complications for international law firms that have a presence in jurisdictions where ABSs are not permitted.’

A separate study by the LSB considers the activities of so-called ‘special bodies’ - not-for-profit organisations that conduct reserved legal activities. Carried out by Frontier Economics, the research was compiled from sources including interviews with Citizens Advice and the Law Centres Federation.