The Solicitors Regulation Authority has been urged to shed its perception as a draconian force and leave aside issues that can be dealt with by firms - or the courts.
Birmingham Law Society wrote to SRA chief executive Sarah Rapson last week to set out how the regulator can start to rebuild trust and confidence from within the profession.
The society’s professional regulation committee called for a culture shift from the organisation in the way it handles solicitors and in the type of conduct on which it chooses to focus.
Cary Whitmarsh, the committee chair, said that while the SRA should be the guardian of high standards in the profession, too often it has been seen to be a ‘draconian organisation lacking understanding or empathy for hard working legal professionals’.
‘There is a perception amongst the profession that the SRA is so process-driven that it can make its people difficult to engage with, particularly in the investigation process,’ said Whitmarsh. ‘Investigators are often unable to have sensible and constructive conversations with solicitors and their representatives without authority from their line manager. This is adding to delay and causing frustration.’
Rapson, who joined in November, has indicated that the SRA needs a reset after two damning independent reports into its handling of the Axiom Ince and SSB Law collapses, as well as a series of failed prosecutions and costs orders due to failings in its investigative process.
Whitmarsh said the committee was strongly opposed to the SRA investigating employment issues such as bullying, harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct which can be dealt with by firms and appropriate courts or tribunals.
He added: ‘These investigations are resource-heavy and, more often than not, result in no further action. This is usually because of the reluctance of complaints and witnesses to become involved in another investigation by the SRA following an internal investigation by the firm. The SRA should not be required to act as a supplementary employment tribunal. It is a waste of both the SRA’s and the profession’s resources.’
The society, which has 9,000 members from across the profession, said the SRA should do more to triage complaints made about solicitors or firms, so that spurious or vexatious complaints are dismissed at an early stage.
There has been an increase in reports about solicitors and firms, but Whitmarsh suggested some firms are reporting one another in litigation matters as a way to ‘weaponise’ the proceedings. ‘This is becoming a common tactic to create leverage, and the SRA needs to act to discourage it,' he said.
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