Practising Certificate fee approved at AGM

Scottish solicitors have approved an increase to the practising certificate (PC) fee.

A resolution on the proposed fee for 2024/25 was passed at the Law Society’s annual general meeting on Thursday, 27 June, with the fee confirmed at £788.

Solicitors also approved a Law Society Council amendment to a member resolution on alternative business structures, businesses which are licensed to provide legal services to the public and can have non-solicitor ownership, unlike traditional law firms.

Law Society President Susan Murray said: “Agreement on the increase to the practising certificate fee for 2024/25 is important to securing the Law Society’s long-term financial sustainability. It ensures the Society continues to be an effective voice for solicitors on important issues such as legal services regulation, criminal justice reform, legal aid and access to justice, in addition to carrying out our statutory role as a regulator to protect the public and safeguard the reputation of our profession.

“We will continue to invest in providing tailored support and services that offer value to our members, such as advice from our professional practice helpline, facilitating professional indemnity insurance through the Master Policy, in addition to career and wellbeing support which has been identified as a key and growing priority by our members.

“I’m also pleased that members have supported the Law Society Council’s amendment to the member motion which had called for the exclusion of alternative business structures operating in Scotland.”

“We appreciate that some of our members have strong concerns about alternative business structures and the potential risks associated with them, which were well articulated at the meeting. However, given the current position of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill and the strong cross-party support for alternative business structures, as well as support for these types of businesses within the profession itself, we believe that the best protection against any risks associated with them, is to make sure we have an effective and robust system of regulation of these new entities.

“We will continue to press for amendments to the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill to address deficiencies we have identified in relation to regulating licensed providers of legal services.”

More information about the AGM is available on our website.