A legal services company has set up what it claims to be the UK’s first ‘para-law firm’, in which most of the work is handed to paralegals.

LCM, which stands for Legal Case Management, promises to use the ‘unregulated’ services of paralegals.

The firm was set up by legal services company Kohen Rapoport Group, founded by Australian lawyer and entrepreneur Dr Yuri Rapoport. It claims to perform a ‘case management’ role, managing the distribution of tasks between 'stables of paralegals, legal executives, solicitors and barristers in the most efficient manner'. 

Yurirapoport

Dr Yuri Rapoport

According to the group, giving paralegals the bulk of ‘time-consuming legal tasks’ under the ‘watchful eye of regulated professionals’ will enable clients to benefit from ‘significant cost reductions’.

Rapoport said: ‘Our role ensures lawyers don’t spend time on unnecessary tasks such as information collection, document bundling, evidence qualification, client management, etc – because we take care of this for them.

‘There is no doubt that we have established a new way of accessing legal support in the UK. We encourage other para-law firms to be established, so more clients can save money and enjoy access to justice.’

The press announcement quotes barrister Stephen Harvey QC, of 3PB Barristers, endorsing the scheme. 'Many clients who I work with find the traditional way of working with a solicitor as the main supplier of legal services both costly and - often - inefficient,’ he said.