A database of alternative business structures and interviews

Data collection comprises two parts, reflecting the two parts of the study.
Part one comprises a database of 400 or so ABSs licensed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) in which their key characteristics are recorded. This includes: name of firm, location, legal status, sector origin, total number of people in firm, total number of managers approved by the SRA, total number of solicitors in firm, external investment.
Part two comprises transcripts of 18 interviews with ABS firms and a small number of investors.
<p>In 2007, the UK government introduced the Legal Services Act 2007 in England and Wales, which removed historic restrictions relating to the financing, management and ownership of legal practices. Breaking with normative tradition, the Act permits non-lawyer ownership and management of law firms through the introduction of a new organizational form – ‘Alternative Business Structures’ (ABS). Despite generating extensive international commentary and controversy, academic research on ABSs is virtually non-existent; an oversight that is particularly intriguing since ABSs symbolise a radical departure from the professional partnership – the traditional structure through which lawyers organize themselves. This mixed-method study addresses this gap and represents the first study examining the ABS population and its impact on the legal services sector.
Phase One: The study was undertaken in two phases. Phase one entailed compiling a database of 400 ABS firms which were licensed by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority between 2012 and 31st August 2015. As well as presenting a detailed profile of the key characteristics of these entities, Phase one examined the degree to which ABSs has resulted in a change in the solicitor firm population and the degree to which non-lawyer providers have entered the sector. It also explored the extent to which the ABS population has adopted the two innovations that differentiate them from the traditional professional partnership: the appointment of non-lawyers as owners/managers of law firms and the ability to raise external investment (e.g. from private equity firms, stock flotation). In exploring these innovations Phase one assessed the degree to which proposals considered to be radical are producing radical change.
Phase Two: The second phase entailed qualitative interviews with ABS firms that had accessed external investment and a small number of private equity investors. Eighteen interviews were conducted and they explored motives for accessing investment and ways in which management practices had changed.
</p>

数据收集包含两部分，对应研究的两个部分。
第一部分为约400家由律师监管局（Solicitors Regulatory Authority，SRA）许可的ABS数据库，记录了其关键特征，包括：公司名称、所在地、法律地位、行业起源、公司员工总数、经SRA批准的经理人数、公司律师总数、外部投资情况。
第二部分为18份与ABS公司及少数投资者的访谈记录（transcripts）。
<p>2007年，英国政府在英格兰及威尔士推出《2007年法律服务法》（Legal Services Act 2007），废除了法律执业在融资、管理及所有权方面的历史限制。该法案打破传统规范，通过引入一种新的组织形式——替代商业结构（Alternative Business Structures，ABS），允许非律师拥有和管理律师事务所。尽管引发了广泛的国际评论与争议，但关于ABS的学术研究几乎空白；这一疏漏尤为值得关注，因为ABS象征着对律师传统组织形式——专业合伙制（professional partnership）的彻底背离。本混合方法研究（mixed-method study）旨在填补这一空白，是首项针对ABS群体及其对法律服务行业影响的研究。
第一阶段：研究分为两阶段。第一阶段需编译2012年至2015年8月31日期间经SRA许可的400家ABS公司数据库。除呈现这些实体的关键特征详细概况外，第一阶段还分析了ABS在多大程度上改变了律师事务所群体，以及非律师提供者进入该行业的程度。此外，该阶段还探讨了ABS群体对两项差异化创新的采用程度：任命非律师作为律师事务所所有者/管理者，以及筹集外部投资的能力（如来自私募股权公司（private equity firms）、股票发行（stock flotation））。在探讨这些创新时，第一阶段评估了被认为激进的提案在多大程度上产生了激进变革。
第二阶段：第二阶段需对已获得外部投资的ABS公司及少数私募股权投资者进行定性访谈（qualitative interviews）。共开展18次访谈，探讨获取投资的动机及管理实践的变化方式。
</p>