Government proposals to recover client account interest from law firms to fund the justice system will add extra costs and force clients to seek out unregulated providers.
That was the verdict of Birmingham Law Society (BLS), which today responded to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation on plans unveiled earlier this month.
Cary Whitmarsh, chair of the society’s professional regulation committee, said the scheme was ‘nothing more than a stealth tax on legal services’ imposing a new regulatory burden on law firms.
‘There will be the cost of compliance by law firms and the costs of the scheme administrator,’ said Whitmarsh. ‘Those costs are certain to fall on legal service providers. This will make legal services more expensive to consumers and other clients. It seems likely that these increased costs will reduce access to justice rather than improve such access.