Lawyers say fee hikes punishes profession for regulator blunders

The legal watchdog plans to raise its funding by increasing lawyer fees to address past shortfalls, but the legal profession is frustrated, arguing they are being forced to pay for the regulator’s own failures and legacy issues, writes Maria Ward-Brennan.

Plans to increase the size of its rainy day fund have not gone down well in the industry, as lawyers see themselves being asked to fork out even more money “to a broken system,” in their view.

Colin Passmore, chairman of the City of London Law Society, added, “The profession is being asked to fund the cost of fixing problems it did not create.”

With anger bubbling, it remains to be seen whether an extra £25m will even help address the shortfalls at this stage, or whether the SRA will be coming back next year with its hands out for more.