Tag Results

The chairman of the Bar Council has urged the increasing number of barristers who decline to pay a voluntary £100 levy to fund its representative work to think again. Alistair MacDonald contrasted this reluctance with the 7,722 barristers who each made a £30 donation to help fund the Bar Pro Bono Unit.

Solicitors believe the practising certificate (PC) fee is still too high, despite a cut of 17% approved by the Law Society council earlier this month, research has revealed.

The Legal Services Board is to tell the approved regulators that they must consult those they regulate about setting the level of practising fees beyond what is needed simply for regulation, it has emerged.

Self-employed barristers collectively earn around £2bn a year, more than doctors in private practice, according to Bar Council estimates. In a paper issued yesterday, the Bar Council said “the Bar overall continues to be a successful profession in terms of overall earnings”.

The cost of practising as a solicitor will rise well above inflation this year, mainly to ensure the Law Society has the funds to compensate the victims of fraud, but also to make up the cost of IT project overruns.