Staff face axe at Law Society to plug £1m cut in income from solicitors

Published on Tuesday 4 August 2009 22:04

JOBS could be lost at the Law Society of Scotland after it announced budget proposals that would see the cost of practising as a solicitor drop by a sixth.

Under the plan, individual lawyers will pay 565 for a compulsory practising certificate – a drop of 100 from its current level. With a membership of about 10,000, that will mean a drop in income of about 1 million for the society.

Last week, staff were asked to consider voluntary redundancy as part of a savings drive to enable the cut in membership fee. The Scotsman understands that the society aims to save 250,000 in employment costs.

The organisation, which employs 120 people, claims there is no target figure for job losses, and says compulsory redundancies have not yet been considered. It is understood certain criteria, including length of service, will be considered during the selection process.

The announcement comes weeks after a bitter row that saw the society accused by critics of wasting its members' money and acting as if it had an open chequebook with the funds.

Matters came to a head at the organisation's AGM in May, when a motion to cap the certificate cost at 400 was defeated after the society agreed to bring forward alternative budget plans and deliver a "material reduction" in membership fees.

The Glasgow lawyer who put down that motion criticised the announcement. David Flint, a partner at MacRoberts, said: "The savings appear to be being made at the edges rather than in the areas they should be looking at. They are looking at redundancies among the rank-and-file staff in the society, which is very unfortunate because the waste is not at the rank and file. The waste is at the top."

He added: "The Law Society is not addressing the financial issues, it's not looking at the issues of what it's doing, what it's costing and whether it is providing value for money.

"It's working on the basis of the money it can get, working out what it wants to do and deciding its budget accordingly."

As well as potential job losses, the society said savings would be made by cutting other costs and dipping into its financial reserves which, according to the latest accounts, total 3m.

Law Society chief executive Lorna Jack said: "Every element of our business has been re-examined with a view to delivering benefits for the profession and the public in a cost-effective way. We must retain the skills we need to do the job while reducing employment costs."

Ian Smart, the society's president said: "This year we have met a demanding objective to produce a significant reduction in the cost of the practising certificate. It has been achieved by carefully working through the budget and planning for 2009-10."

After his firm supported the society during the AGM, David Hardie, chairman of Dundas & Wilson, Scotland's biggest firm, said: "We continue to be supportive of the proposed 100 reduction in the practice certificate fee and to support the Law Society's efforts to achieve that."

The budget will be published later this week and debated at a meeting in Glasgow on 24 September.