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No more flying solo?

12 January 2022
Issue: 7962 / Categories: Legal News , Profession , Insurance / reinsurance
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Sole practitioners are swapping private practice for consultancy at larger firms in increasing numbers due to rising professional indemnity insurance (PII) premiums, research shows

Solicitors Regulation Authority figures show the number of sole practitioners dropped by 5% in the past six months alone. A LexisNexisreport, ‘Bellwether 2021: The good, the bad and the new’, revealed PII has risen by an average of 30% among small and medium firms in one year, with two-thirds of respondents identifying PII as among the biggest threats to their firm.

Adrian Jaggard, CEO at Taylor Rose MW, which has more than doubled its number of consultant solicitors to about 350 in the past year, said: ‘Increasing PII premiums have particularly impacted smaller firms and sole practitioners and it is having a marked impact on their appetite to keep operating independently.

‘We are seeing a lot of experienced solicitors who no longer want the responsibilities of compliance and increasing operating costs, and instead are seeking the relative security and freedom of operating as consultants.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Hugh James—Phil Edwards

Serious injury teambolstered by high-profile partner hire

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Freeths—Melanie Stancliffe

Firm strengthens employment team with partner hire

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

DAC Beachcroft—Tim Barr

Lawyers’ liability practice strengthened with partner appointment in London

NEWS
Ceri Morgan, knowledge counsel at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP, analyses the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd, which reshapes the law of fiduciary relationships and common law bribery
The boundaries of media access in family law are scrutinised by Nicholas Dobson in NLJ this week
Reflecting on personal experience, Professor Graham Zellick KC, Senior Master of the Bench and former Reader of the Middle Temple, questions the unchecked power of parliamentary privilege
Geoff Dover, managing director at Heirloom Fair Legal, sets out a blueprint for ethical litigation funding in the wake of high-profile law firm collapses
James Grice, head of innovation and AI at Lawfront, explores how artificial intelligence is transforming the legal sector
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