ILCA scheme: Stakeholders rally to reject government proposals

In a commentary piece, Law Society president Mark Evans writes that, on 9 March, the UK government closed its consultation on proposals to raise funds through an Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts Scheme (ILCA) in England and Wales.

The Law Society – alongside UK Finance, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, the City of London Law Society and the Legal Aid Practitioners Group – are strongly against the proposals, as they amount to nothing more than a crude sector-specific tax on clients of legal services.

In our consultation response, he notes, we argued that the government is proposing to use client money to fund our justice system, adding regulatory burdens for firms, with vulnerable clients ultimately paying the price. 

He adds that access to justice would be compromised for some groups of consumers and firms will have to find ways to manage additional costs created by the scheme. Some clients will ultimately have to pay higher legal fees, and law firms may no longer be able to offer some services, including legal aid, affecting clients who are most at risk.