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updated on 13 December 2022
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The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced that non-practising solicitors will need to pay a £20 charge to stay on the roll from next year. The change will affect around 60,000 non-practising solicitors who are already on the roll.
‘Roll-keeping’ was initially abandoned in 2014 but has been revived to comply with data protection legislation. The initial fee was estimated to be between £30 to £40, however, it’s now been set at £20.
Before an official decision had been made, in May 2022 the Law Society said: “We support the SRA’s intention to improve the management, including data quality, of those on the roll.”
However, the decision hasn’t been taken lightly by some retired solicitors, with former criminal defence solicitor, and veteran Gazette columnist and author James Morton calling it “insulting”.
In a letter written to the Law Gazette, he wrote: “I know times are hard, but really. The savings must be nugatory, as the number of us left who qualified for this munificence must dwindle every year. To take away this modest recognition is insulting.”