City lawyers slam SRA’s proposal for unlimited fines

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By Legal Cheek on

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City of London Law Society says proposals are ‘arbitrary’ and ‘flawed’

City of London at sunset
A body representing City solicitors has criticised new proposals by the regulator to significantly increase its fining powers, calling them “arbitrary” and “not fit for purpose”.

The City of London Law Society stated that while it does not oppose a scheme allowing solicitors and law firms to face “substantial fines”, it believes the approach taken by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is “flawed”.

The plans will introduce two new fining bands, likely reserved for serious misconduct involving economic crime, with the power to impose unlimited financial penalties on the worst offending law firms and solicitors.

Penalties for firms under Band E can range from 6% to 10% of their annual domestic turnover, increasing to a minimum of 11% under Band F. Meanwhile, solicitors will face fines ranging from 113% to 145% of their annual gross income under Band E, with a starting point of 146% under Band F.

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In a detailed response to the plans, the CLLS accused the SRA of failing to properly consider the likely impact of fines on firms and individuals, making it difficult to understand how the SRA believes its scheme aligns with its own obligations.

The group also argued that the scheme is inconsistent with established common law principles governing the regulation and discipline of solicitors as applied by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. It also claimed that the SRA failed to explain why its scheme deviates from these principles or whether these issues were considered and deliberately rejected.

Iain Miller, chair of the CLLS professional rules and regulatory committee which drew up the submission, said:

“The more we went into the SRA paper, the more confused it became. It looks as if the SRA has offered a policy without thinking through its ramifications, without a clear grasp of the essentials, and without any proper consideration of the underlying law. We urge the SRA to reconsider its proposals.”

6 Comments

for thee not me

ince isn’t going to pay for itself

Anonymous

The new proposal should be welcomed by the legal fraternity and especially by the general public for the sake of maintaining trust and confidence in the profession of solicitors, where unscrupulous and unethical practices are sometimes common…..

Anonymous

It’s hilarious how loudly these money grabbers scream how unfair this all is but I believe the wild wild west of money grabbing cowboys called lawyers need all the discipline there is – Huge fines to regulate this very unregulated profession – What dealings I have had to endure with lawyers has been bewildering with their terrible advice they give you with tremendous costs only to fail miserably – The lies and arrogance that comes hand in hand with this profession sickens me –

Anonymous

Considering the massive amount of GDPR data breaches carried out by local authority solicitors seemingly without any recourse the more they are fined the better.

Victim of the SRA approved solicitors

I very much welcome it as the SRA only there to cover up their the so called solicitors serial and serious wrong doings and and the general public needs independent body to protect themselves from ruthless and unprofessional practices that the majority of them the so called legal professionals who in thus field to become rich over night with their indifensible fees in my experince proved that there is no justice in their practices at all.

They don't even go here

What’s with all the room temp IQ chancers commenting on a law blog? I’m getting that “soon to be litigants in person” tingly sensation.

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