In response to a proposed member resolution submitted prior to last year’s annual general meeting, the Benchers established the Annual Fee Review Working Group with a mandate to investigate and consider providing public interest practitioners with reduced rates of practice fees and insurance fees.
Members are invited to comment on the idea of reducing Law Society fees for public interest practitioners. In particular, the working group seeks input on the following questions:
1 Should the Law Society develop and implement a fee reduction for public interest practitioners? Why or why not?
2. If you would support the development and implementation of a fee reduction for public interest practitioners:
(a) How should the lawyers eligible to receive the fee reduction be identified? What eligibility criteria might be most appropriate?
(b) What consequences or impacts of the fee reduction would you foresee as providing its justification?
(c) How big should the fee reduction be and should the reduction be applied to the practice fee, the insurance fee, or both?
A consultation paper is available here. Lawyers should submit their views to annualfeereview@lsbc.org by September 15, 2018.