English Alternative Business Structures and the European single market

English Alternative Business Structures (ABS) are likely to put the European legal framework on lawyer mobility and cross-border provision of legal services to its first serious test. Continental European bars are defending a reading of the applicable European Directives which would allow them to keep English ABS out of their markets. Whether the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will agree with this protectionist interpretation of the applicable European rules remains to be seen. This paper challenges the legal arguments in favour of protectionism and argues that it will be very difficult for Continental European bars to keep English ABS out of their markets.