Starting a law firm in the UK does mean complying with some of the statutory requirements for recognised or licensed solicitors.LawLaw firm start ups need to be licensed by the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) and this can months to process. So start ups should not expect to rent office space and begin trading the next day! Law firm start ups need a registered office address for their practice and one member of the management team of the firm must be qualified to supervise, which means the person will need to have been qualified and working as a lawyer for 36 months or longer in the past 10 years and will have to complete a 12 hour management skills course.Different types of law firmNew law firm start ups can register to start up as recognised sole practitioners, recognised bodies or licensed bodies. The different forms of law firm each have requirements to address which are legislated by the SRA. Once an application has been made to start up the law firm it’s necessary to consider all other aspects of setting up a new business.Business planEntrepreneurs need coherent business planning in place in order to achieve success in any marketplace and law firms are no different. Providing legal advice and services places any lawyer within a competitive marketplace, so making sure the business plan takes account of all eventualities, expenditure and likely income is an important factor to consider.InsurancesInsurance is critical for lawyers who need to take out professional indemnity insurance in order to practise. Some new lawyers find it difficult to obtain professional indemnity insurance at the outset so it’s important to take advice from specialists in this field prior to signing up to take on leases for property or making any major purchases for the new business.