A law firm specialising in advising business startups has today announced its intention to list on a stock market.

Oxfordshire-based Everyman Legal will apply to become an alternative business structure in early 2012 and seek admission to the market in the final quarter of next year.

Shares will be traded on the junior trading platform Sharemark, which is aimed at smaller companies, with the goal of generating revenue to help fuel rapid expansion.

The initiative is the brainchild of City of London-trained corporate lawyer James Hunt (pictured), who claims to have created the UK’s first incorporated legal practice, Hunt & Co Solicitors, in 1992.

A former partner at Needham & James, Hunt founded Everyman Legal four years ago to provide legal advice to entrepreneurs. It combines a network of 13 ‘partner’ solicitors working from various locations in England, stretching from Devon to Leeds, with the sale of online templates and information. Practice areas listed include corporate, property, energy and construction.

Hunt said: ‘I recognise that this may seem to some to be a very bold move, but we share the entrepreneurial spirit of our clients and plan to be at the vanguard of the revolution taking place in the legal sector.

‘We’re under no illusions that if you don’t put in place the right long-term plans, you will not create the right structure and environment for rapid, sustainable growth.’

Sharemark is a low-cost trading platform that allows shares to be traded at a single price, at set intervals, without the need for market makers. Companies can later move to the Alternative Investment Market, a junior market of the London Stock Exchange which has a less onerous regulatory system than the main market.

Hunt said: ‘Starting out on a smaller market such as Sharemark is a great way to build profile and get to grips with the practical challenges of being a traded company. It will also enable us to start the process of forming relationships with potential investors and analysts, while the low cost and regulatory burden will not weigh us down.’

Everyman Legal will seek to be admitted by the end of 2012, with a fundraising expected to follow about 12 months later. The firm recently closed a small issue of convertible loan notes to provide development capital.

Hunt added: ‘A possible fundraising after joining Sharemark would enable the company to raise equity from a position of strength, allowing it to build the framework and structure to support a rapid scale-up of its operations.’

The plan is to pay 5% of the value of the company in dividends every year.

Everyman Legal is the first UK law firm to announce a planned stock market listing, as the profession braces itself for the full implementation of ABSs. To join Sharemark, Hunt said the firm will need to increase its shareholder base and recruit more solicitors. It is currently recruiting practice heads.