The Law Society today rebuffed a bid by a freshly minted campaign group for small firms to force a no confidence vote in the Solicitors Regulation Authority on to the agenda of the Society’s annual general meeting. A request that the meeting be adjourned to allow such a motion to be considered was effectively ruled contrary to the Society’s bylaws.
A suggestion that a vote be taken of the 120 or so members who attended the AGM was not taken up by the floor.
The SME & Boutique Law Firm Alliance was established last month ‘to give smaller firms a collective voice in regulatory matters’, amid widespread concern about the potentially devastating impact of the SRA’s now paused COLP and COFA reforms. Chancery Lane communicated to the group’s founders that its governance rules would not allow a motion to be introduced to the AGM at such a late stage. The size of the alliance and its membership are unknown.
Alliance co-founder Jade Gani of Circe Law did, however, address the AGM. She garnered many expressions of support, including from current Law Society Council members. Gani reiterated the group’s conviction that the Society has not done enough to communicate a profound loss of confidence in the regulator, as small firm owners once again outlined the potentially devastating impact of the COLP/COFA proposals.
One of the most impassioned contributions to the debate that followed came from Julie West, of specialist Leatherhead property firm Julie West Solicitors.
Were the COLP/COFA plans to go through in January, West said, her firm would close. ‘I would need to pay £90,000 for the runoff cover and probably £30,000 in redundancy payments,’ she said. ‘The alternative? To give my firm away to one of these private equity-funded accumulator firms that have been queueing at my door to acquire my business. The very same types of firms that have caused these catastrophic law firm failures. My firm closes and the 10-years’ qualified solicitor who I would be proud to succeed me becomes an employee of a private equity-controlled accumulator firm.
‘Why are these [COLP/COFA] proposals paused? Why have they not been withdrawn?,’ asked West.
Other speakers said ‘new broom’ Sarah Rapson, chief executive of the SRA, and the new chair of the regulator, announced today, must be given time to implement the turnaround plan Rapson has promised.
Incoming Law Society president Brett Dixon concluded the debate by giving his view on how best the Society can ‘unpick’ the COLP/COFA problem. ‘We start by looking at what we have heard today,’ said Dixon. ‘As a membership organisation, we are listening to what members have to say. I don’t want anybody to think we don’t recognise the strength of feeling among law firms, sole practitioners and other members. We understand that some of these concerns extend beyond the proposed changes to COLP/COFA roles; that they reflect wider questions about the SRA’s regulatory approach. We share the objective that regulation is proportionate and evidence-based.’
Dixon added: ’What I can say to you following discussion at council yesterday is that it is not the view of the elected body that a motion of no confidence would be an effective campaigning approach. It could in fact be counterproductive. There are better approaches that will achieve more for the profession, both on the immediate issues and more generally – public advocacy, strong evidence-based responses to consultation, liaison with like-minded stakeholder organisations and continual engagement with senior leaders at the SRA.’
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