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I suspect everyone's missing a trick here. Let's not be naive here. This (as with QS, Quenron, slate plus gordon lawyers, co-op, etc.) has nothing to do with the actual provision of legal services.

Well actually, in fairness co-op law did have something to do with providing legal services - and look where that got them.

Otherwise there are two business models:-

Model 1:- the all solicitors are dinosaurs.

* Put out press released saying "all solicitors are dinosaurs"
* Say you are the best thing since sliced bread, and aim to "enhance the transactional customer experience by synergising technological advances with forward-thrusting legal service provision".
* STRANGELY, direct most of your advertising, not at clients or "consumers", but at solicitors.
* Get solicitors firms to pay you £20,000 a pop.
* You keep your money, and make a profit. The solicitors don't.

Model 2:- the combine back office functions model

* Buy a lot of existing firms.
* Prepare your consolidated accounts on the basis that the purchased goodwill has value and is amortised over a fairly long period.
* Overnight, your balance sheet will be massively positive, because the "goodwill" of the firms will be much higher than what you have actually paid.
* If you are really clever, list yourself on the stockmarket. That way you can pay for the firms you are buying with shares (i.e. mug punter shareholder's money) and keep the actual cash for yourself.
*As the bubble gets bigger and bigger and bigger, keep making more acquisitions.
* When the acquisitions start running out of cash, and thus may need a restatement of the value of the goodwill, do inter-company work. One subsidiary can "buy-in" services, such as costs drafting, or litigation, or whatever. This gets recognised as profit for the poor-performing subsidiary without any money needing to change hands!
* Sell out before the bubble bursts. This will be on the basis that the company is now worth £235.6million, squillion, bertrillion (even though most of the actual profits are internally generated).