Family law disruptor amicable has announced plans to launch a regulated law firm after submitting its application to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in July. The firm will include a new conveyancing service for separating couples.
The divorce and separation provider said the new and separate law firm will serve England and Wales and provide both family legal services and representation that amicable, as an unregulated business, does not provide. A “small, focused” conveyancing service covering transfers of equity and related remortgages will be offered alongside the divorce provision, targeted at separating couples moving the family home into one name.
amicable currently works with couples in what it describes as a “simpler alternative to the traditional two-lawyer process”.
The company was created 10 years ago by Kate Daly, a counsellor with a background in psychology, and Pip Wilson, co-founder and current CEO. In 2023 the Octopus group acquired a majority stake in the business.
The regulated entity will work with the people amicable can’t currently help directly, as well as carrying out some of the work amicable’s own customers need from a regulated firm.
According to amicable, the new business will be “built as a technology first law firm from day one”, taking the learnings from the years it says it has spent building software around the separation journey to shape its own case management, client communication and drafting tools.
AI tools will support tasks such as drafting, triage and research, with a qualified solicitor reviewing advice and documents.
The new firm will be led by Pip Wilson together with Alex Woolley, a former senior associate at a top-tier London family law firm, co-founder of two access-to-justice legal tech companies and a previous winner of the SRA’s Legal Access Challenge. The search is now on for new recruits.
Wilson said: “We started amicable because we believed there had to be a kinder way to divorce. But working with couples together isn’t always possible for every situation, and until now we haven’t been able to help those people ourselves.
“The new firm is for them. It will be built on the same values, and on the technology and innovation that let us do things in a better way. We’re looking for family and conveyancing solicitors who share that ambition and want to help shape the firm from day one.”
