Chair of Triton Global
Insurance Claims Defense
“We have a very specialized client base. We provide insurance-based claims services for the policyholders of insurers, predominantly in the area of professional liability insurance. In the U.K., we offer to our insurer clients a ‘one-stop-shop’ for handling their claims work: legal, claims management and loss adjustment. Before the Legal Services Act, those services had to be offered separately through different entities. …
In creating the ABS, we have become something very different than we were before. We pooled the three existing businesses, including the law firm, into one company and eliminated the partnership structure in favor of a corporate structure, with a chief executive. I was nervous about it; I’d been self-employed for over 40 years and then I became an employee. For our lawyers, we decided to keep the title of partner because that is what the market—and notably the law firms we service as policyholders—recognizes as what the most important lawyers are called.
What we are most excited about with the ABS structure is the possibility to offer to our staff a stake in the business. With an ABS, we can offer share ownership to all of our staff, not just the lawyers. We believe that this is a very important way to inspire and motivate our employees, and research shows that it results in significant improvement in employee productivity and retention. … Another reason to be happy about this is: What do you do when you retire? Law firm partners don’t have anything to sell when they retire; with an ABS, you have something you can sell. …
The legal profession—not just in the U.K., but everywhere—is facing problems that are two faces of the same coin: declining profitability and a large number of law graduates who cannot find jobs. The ABS model offers a way to address those problems. And the days of amateur management are over.”
