Fletchers Solicitors becomes an Alternative Business Structure

Fletchers Solicitors has become an Alternative Business Structure (ABS).

The new ABS’ chief executive, Ed Fletcher (pictured), said that the move would allow Fletchers to achieve its goal of being recognised as a top 100 law firm in the UK. It would also give it the flexibility to cope with further changes, such as the expected increase of fixed fees for medical negligence cases.

The firm has already recruited non-lawyer talent to its board, most notably finance director, Gary Carrington, who assists with the development of commercial initiatives. In addition, Fletchers has three non-lawyer non executive directors, Nigel Savage, the high-profile former CEO of The University of Law, Paul Duncanson, one of the UK’s leading marketing and brand specialists, and David Walmsley.

Fletcher said that the firm – which built Patient Claim Line, a major consumer-facing brand and Medical Law Network, a panel which offers other top law firms an effective way to bring their services to market – had been successful by doing things differently.

“We’ve been changing business processes to become more agile and innovative than the competition,” he said. “Importantly, being an Alternative Business Structure means we can bring in top talent from other sectors and further our leadership of the medical negligence sector

“Our non-solicitor directors can now be acknowledged officially by Companies House, and it paves the way for us to attract future talent to the board, both internally and externally, to ensure we have the best possible leadership to achieve our vision. Bringing in talent from different industries helps to increase the breadth of our business experience, which in turn leads to a competitive advantage. Innovation in the legal sector is crucial to success and we aim to remain at the forefront of the industry by continuing to break down traditional barriers.”

Established in 1987, the business reported significant growth over the past five years and now claims to handle one in ten medical negligence cases the UK.

Mark Dugdale