Freeze on compensation for office holders likelyLaw Society Council members will this week be asked to vote for a further freeze in rates of compensation paid to office holders in recognition of their work.If the Council votes against the freeze, the Law Society could face an increased bill for compensation of between 65,000 and 353,000 per year.

Estimates were based on a report prepared by independent expert Professor Malcolm Grant, who reviewed compensation levels after the Council voted in favour of increases in principle last April.Under Prof Grant's proposals, compensation for the president would increase from 46,500 to a maximum 75,000.

Rates for the vice-president and deputy vice-president would rise from 23,250 and 11,625 to 42,000 (if also chair of the executive committee) and 12,000 respectively.For the first time, compensation of 10,800 was suggested for executive committee members; some members only gained agreement by their firms to join the committee on the basis that they would be compensated.

A rate of 7,500 was proposed for other committee chairs.

Prof Grant did not recommend compensation for Council members, but figures of between 1,000 to 3,000 have been suggested.John Miller, the Society's director of membership services, said the Council was being asked to 'park' changes in compensation because of planned reforms to the structure of the Council.

It was also likely to be bad for public relations and 'not sensible financially' in light of the Law Society's budget, he added.While the audited accounts for the Law Society show a 600,000 surplus for 1999, under the revised budget for 2000 a shortfall of 6.5 million is estimated, mainly due to unforeseen expenditure on the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors.Sue Allen