The Solicitors Regulation Authority has been told that imposing compulsory ethics training on the profession is neither necessary nor practical.
Birmingham Law Society, the largest regional representative group with 9,000 members, accused the SRA of being too prescriptive in its plans for solicitors to prove their continuing competence.
The regulator has proposed three-hour mandatory ethics ‘discussions’ every year where solicitors will talk about their approach to ethical dilemmas to help them decide on the right course of action if they are confronted with the same situations in practice. Where a competence concern has arisen with a solicitor or other law firm worker, they would be required to complete specific learning and development work.
Birmingham Law Society said it supported the intention to improve ethical behaviour in the profession but asked for any measures to be proportionate, flexible and effective.
In its response to the SRA consultation, it said: ‘We do not support an approach that requires significantly documented or heavily formalised reflection. In practice, reflection is embedded throughout the normal course of legal work, including through supervision, matter-based discussions with clients, colleagues and peers as well as ongoing professional development.
‘Many firms already have well-established systems, controls and tools in place to support their people in undertaking and recording this information, alongside regular performance reviews and personal and professional development planning.’
The response rejected the idea that ethical judgement can be developed or maintained solely through participation in ethics discussions. Instead, ethical learning should be ‘integrated, contextual and continuous, not confined to a single format’.
The society also questioned the proposal for ethics discussions to be facilitated by a solicitor who has practised for a minimum of three years. It said this would exclude other legal professionals such as barristers, compliance professionals, and CILEX lawyers, as well as individuals with significant expertise in learning and development.
This idea, it was said, may also have a disproportionate impact on in-house teams, smaller firms and sole practitioners, who would struggle to meet prescriptive requirements. Ethics discussions would cost millions in total to put on and take away fee-earning time, the society said.
‘The SRA’s own figures showed that there were 177,841 practising solicitors in June 2026. A three-hour ethics session delivered to groups of 12 solicitors at £100 per hour would cost in the region of £4.5m across the profession, before taking account of preparation time, administration, room hire or other associated costs.
‘The opportunity cost is substantially higher. By this we mean the loss in fee earning time. At an assumed hourly rate of £150, three hours of lost fee-earning time would equate to approximately £80m.’
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