BME firms should embrace alternative business structures to stay in business, the new chair of the Black Solicitors ­Network told the Gazette this week.

Nwabueze Nwokolo, who is also the Law Society council member for ethnic minorities, said: ‘Most black lawyers work in small firms, but that is a business model that has fallen out of fashion. Survival lies in achieving critical mass through becoming ABSs ourselves.

‘We should be merging with other firms, attracting external investment and meeting the ABS challenge on equal terms.’

She added: ‘The solicitors’ profession is only diverse at the point of entry.

‘Most black solicitors train and work at black-run firms whose survival is threatened by the economic downturn.

‘Without them, where will the next generation of black lawyers go?’