A review of solicitor regulation must not be allowed to fragment the profession, sole practitioners have warned.

Hamish McNair, chairman of the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG), said: ‘Sole practitioners and solicitors at magic circle firms may have very different clients, but it is important to recognise that our similarities are greater than our differences. We share the same ethical standards and the same focus on client interests.’

Lord Hunt of Wirral’s profession-wide review of regulation will take into account imminent changes to the statutory structure of the profession (see [2008] Gazette, 23 October, 1).

SPG honorary secretary Clive Sutton said he expects a constructive approach from Hunt: ‘He’s the solicitor’s solicitor and has the ability to help the profession through this difficult time.’

Law Society Council member Ian Lithman condemned current regulations as burdensome for sole practitioners. ‘We spend more time complying than working,’ he said, but separate regulatory regimes would herald the ‘fragmentation of the profession, which would be in nobody’s best interests’. He saw no need for the City to have its own regulator: ‘The Solicitors Regulation Authority has so far been unequal to the task, but things can and must change.’

Sue Carter, Law Society Council member, said she expects a lively debate and quoted Lord Denning on how views could polarise: ‘Two reasonable persons could perfectly reasonably come to opposite conclusions on the same set of facts without forfeiting their right to be regarded as reasonable.’