Watch out lawyers: Solicitors’ regulator pushes for greater fining powers
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a consultation on its financial penalties and made proposals which would allow the watchdog to issue fines of £25,000.
Currently the regulator only has unlimited fining powers over alternative business structures. For traditional law firms, or individual solicitors though the watchdog is only able to issue fines of up to £2,000.
The proposal, announced by the SRA today, is aimed at speeding up the progress of cases by reducing the need for cases to be referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).
The news comes on the heels of the SRA’s rebuke of a solicitor for striking a member of the public with a frying pan while on holiday in Wales. Kamaljit Singh Bains, an in-house solicitor at EEF Limited, was fined £1,760 by the SRA and ordered to pay an additional £600 to cover the costs of the investigation after pleading guilty.
Alongside being able to issue fines of up to £25,000, the SRA’s proposals also included being able to take the income of a firm or individual when setting fines, and the introduction of a schedule of ‘fixed penalties’ of up to £1,500 for less serious cases to simplify the process.
For more serious cases the SRA wants to be able to fine firms five per cent of their annual turnover. The change would allow different levels of fines to be given to a “low earning junior solicitor compared to a senior equity partner for similar offences,” the SRA said in a statement.
“When [SRA] standards are not met, we need to step in to make sure that consumers are protected and confidence in the profession is well placed,” said SRA chair Anna Bradley.
“Changes to our fining powers would also allow the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to focus on the most serious cases where there is need for greater fines and sanctions such as suspension and strike off,” she added.