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The lack of any semblance of consistency in the punishments handed out, and the approach taken by the SRA against different individuals and firms, is staggering.

There are obviously numerous examples of what appear to be very heavy handed responses, investigations and fines/strike offs. These examples of course usually involve sole practitioners or junior solicitors/trainees

The partners of Ince & Co allow unsecured debts of £34m to run up. They are clearly aware the business is trading while insolvent, and yet are allowed to walk away with a pre-pack and no SRA action of any kind (certainly none that I have heard of).

This firm ignore money laundering regulations on a breathtaking, industrial scale and are likewise systematically submitting claims without checking them. (Which to me at least, raises questions as to what were they doing for their 20%/33% cut and were the agreements with clients unreasonable?)

And yet the agreed fine is not much more than a rounding error. If nothing else, it seems the misconduct in terms of their systems was ongoing for more than 1 year, so shouldn't the fine have been calculated with reference to all income during that period, not just turnover which I presume applies to a single year?