I am a solicitor in a specialist sole practice. When a recent Legal Services Commission costs audit threatened a clawback against all of my personal savings (until an appeal upgraded my firm from category three to category one), I reluctantly decided to abandon legal aid after 25 years, and also to incorporate my sole practice so that I would never again feel so exposed financially.

After resigning myself to a 50% increase in my indemnity insurance because of the increased minimum liability limit, I then learnt that I have to pay the Law Society a fee of £500 to 'recognise' me as an incorporated practice - and a further £400 into the Solicitors Compensation Fund, even though no client money can be at risk because I do not hold client money or do property work. These fees would be the same if I were a large institution or multi-partner firm.


As I have a small turnover, I will either have to find what, to me, are significant sums out of my personal earnings, or pass them on to my predominantly low-income clients. I will have to pay these amounts again every three years to stay as a limited liability practice.


I would care rather less if I felt that the Law Society was spending these sums on effective campaigning to save legal aid from total collapse, but I suspect that the money would simply be used to pay its own staff salaries that are probably well above those earned in small legal aid firms, and risk free.


Peter Bartram, Bartram & Co, London




Law Society response: The £500 fee is for three years and covers the cost of the extensive checks and information needed before an incorporated practice can be recognised. This includes registration checks with Companies House and on indemnity insurance.


All the information provided by the practice needs to be checked and processed, and new records created - both for the firm and the individuals within the firm. There can also be management costs for some applications where we might need to take advice from the professional ethics advisers, the indemnity committee, and the compensation fund team before granting recognition.


The Law Society is campaigning hard for a better deal for practitioners who undertake legal aid work. We are currently playing an active role in influencing the Carter review into the procurement of publicly funded legal services; we have established a group to co-ordinate responses to the review so that it has access to a wide range of views. The Criminal Law Solicitors Association, the London Criminal Courts Solicitors Association, and the Legal Aid Practitioners Group endorse the Society's campaign.