PLUS+ is a service from O'Connors which enables lawyers, accountants, and other professional advisers to add O’Connors’ insurance and legal/financial services regulatory expertise to their advisory team when helping clients to manage risks in projects and transactions. Some examples of advice on legal services projects are:

Authorisation applications & regulatory structuring

  • We assisted a new law firm handling a novel area of financial services litigation in its application to become licensed by the SRA as an alternative business structure.
  • We assisted an alternative legal services provider in its application to become licensed by the SRA as an alternative business structure, enabling it to obtain private equity investment and facilitate its growth plans.

Legal expenses insurance program & insurance distribution by legal professionals

  • We advised a law firm on the terms of a 'no search' indemnity insurance policy for its mortgagee client in connection with the acquisition of blocks of residential buy-to-let flats, enabling the law firm to give a certificate of title ahead of the drawdown of funds. 
  • We acted for several law firms who had recommended their clients to take out a policy underwritten by a Gibraltar-based ATE legal expenses insurance company, on the terms of a draft commutation agreement and a draft indemnity deed following the liquidation of the Gibraltar-based insurer.  
  • We provided a commercial and regulatory analysis of a suite of regulated contracts (agency agreements, policy wording, consumer credit loan agreements) to a group of law firms and a claims handling company in connection with disputes with the ATE legal expenses insurer and consumer credit disbursement funder. 

Arrangements regarding regulated claims management, lead generation, introduction, referral & outsourced marketing activities

  • We prepared a compliant outsourced services agreement and international data transfer agreement between an international class action litigation law firm and a digital marketing company in relation to the development of a lead generation chatbot.

Litigation funding

  • We provided advice to several law firms on multiple rounds of structured finance relating to litigation funding with an aggregate value in excess of £250 million stemming from overseas institutional investors. In addition to advising on the terms of the funding, we provided the law firms with guidance on the regulatory obligations owed to their clients in using the loans to fund the costs of litigation.

Professional indemnity insurance

  • We carried out a policy wording review and delivered technical successor practice advice to a property litigation law firm in relation to a claim made against its professional indemnity insurers arising out of the conduct of a prior practice. Our advice helped secure cover for the firm as successor practice, which the insurer had first refused. 

Successor practices

  • We delivered successor practice advice to law firm principals prior to a distressed transfer of business to a successor practice firm in anticipation of SRA intervention and liquidation of the prior practice.

Trust corporations

  • We established a trust corporation to support the litigation, court of protection, and power of attorney services of a Legal 500 claimant law firm. We prepared a full suite of governance and ancillary documents and advised on corporate structuring, capital requirements, and the regulatory implications for the law firm and its lawyers of having a trust corporation group company.

Legal ombudsman & regulator complaints

  • We advised a regional law firm in relation to the complaint process and the points in mitigation which could be raised to affect the outcome of a Legal Ombudsman complaint.

Barristers, barristers’ chambers & BSB authorised entities

  • We advised a Northern powerhouse set of barristers’ chambers to secure the recovery of circa £100,000 of counsels’ fees tied up in the client account of a law firm in liquidation.
  • We provided regulatory and corporate structuring advice to a specialist family chambers in its application to become a BSB licensed body.

View some PLUS+ testimonials here. 

For further information, please contact Josh Bates, Sally Lazar, Kathryn Howard or Louis Hamilton.