Second tier of family law panel planned to benefit from Irvine's 15% pay offer

SPECIALIST ADVICE: SFLA and Law Society discuss ways of harmonising accreditation schemes

Members of the Law Society's family law panel last week moved closer to the guaranteed 15% increase in publicly funded work received by other family lawyers when the Law Society Council approved a second, more specialised tier of the panel.At the same time, plans were announced to harmonise the panels of the Society and the Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA).

Currently the 15% pay enhancement is only available for members of the much smaller SFLA panel and the Society's children panel.

However, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, has guaranteed similar rates for members of a specialised second tier of the Law Society family law panel, subject to certain standards approved by the Legal Services Commission being reached.Andrew Holroyd, chairman of the Society's training committee, said: 'When the Lord Chancellor decided to award the 15% increase to the SFLA panel, we received a lot of feedback from practitioners who said they would welcome a second tier for our panel.' Around half of the panel's 3,526 members have indicated an interest in joining the second tier.Mr Holroyd said the development was part of a trend; the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers is among those to have established second tiers on their panels.

'I see this idea - having a competent panel with a more specialised level above - as becoming common throughout the profession.'SFLA chairwoman Jane Craig said she understood why the Society wanted its members to benefit from the increase, but warned against establishing too many panels.

'Already the public has to differentiate between the SFLA panel and the Law Society panel, which can be confusing, but now a third group could make the situation worse.' Ms Craig said the SFLA and Society were discussing ways of working together and harmonising their schemes.

The council last week noted the aim to harmonise the panels.

A paper to council said: 'This is a very attractive proposition and must be the aspiration of both panels for the benefit of both the profession and the consumer.' The disparity in the schemes' membership and the absence of a second tier in the SFLA scheme were identified as obstacles.Victoria MacCallum