At least 10 of the top 100 UK law firms are considering applying to become alternative business structures, the Gazette can reveal.

International firm Kennedys and Midlands firm Browne Jacobson are among those to confirm this week that discussions are ongoing about a possible application - although they have yet to progress further. National firm TLT Solicitors and north-east firm Dickinson Dees say no application is imminent but they will monitor developments in the coming months.

At least five other top 100 firms are known to be considering an application in 2012, but want to remain anonymous for the moment. Irwin Mitchell and Keoghs, from opposite sides of the claimant-defendant divide, have previously expressed their interest.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority said this week it has received 80 ‘stage one’ applications. The majority have been sent bespoke packs to continue the process. The regulator confirmed entries have come from a range of law firms, retailers and other organisations of varying sizes.

Analysts have long predicted that the opening of the legal services market to non-lawyers would be attractive to new firms and outside entrants. But there is clearly interest from some firms with much longer histories to take advantage of new opportunities.

A spokeswoman for Kennedys said: ‘ABS is attractive because we can continue to have non-lawyers as partners and can even expand this group if we so wish. It is also another source of finance for us.’

David Pester, managing partner of TLT Solicitors, said: ‘We're currently looking into the opportunities presented by ABSs, and while we have no immediate plans to become an ABS we’re continually looking at how we can best meet our clients’ needs and ABS structures may present some advantages in a changing market.’

Iain Blatherwick, managing partner at Browne Jacobson, said: ‘Opening the door to non-lawyers to become partners or co-owners will certainly allow firms much wider choice and flexibility in the way that the business is controlled, management teams are structured and how risks are managed and shared.’

The Gazette understands that at least 30 of the top 100 firms have ruled themselves out of an ABS move. They include Cobbetts, Gateley and Burges Salmon. The rest of the 30 said they were not interested but preferred to stay anonymous.

ABS licensing began last October, when the Council for Licensed Conveyancers gained licensing authority. The SRA became a licensing authority earlier this month, with the Ministry of Justice predicting that ‘thousands more’ firms would be able to take advantage of new freedoms. The first SRA approval is expected by the end of February.