Law firms should pay a levy on profits above £150,000 per partner because they “benefit directly from the polarisation of wealth in favour of the businesses they serve”, according to high-profile solicitor Geoffrey Bindman QC.
“This enables them to increase their fees in line with the profits of their clients,” he writes in this week’s NLJ.
The Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, proposed the idea of a levy on City firms to support legal aid late last year. City firms opposed the idea. Bindman recalls that he suggested such a levy 20 years ago while serving on the Law Society’s pro bono working party.
Bindman argues that, while legal aid is a government responsibility, not all legal aid funding necessarily has to come solely from general tax revenue, and “the case for a contribution from the profession remains”.
He notes that a levy of 10% of profits above £150,000 per partner is “hardly punitive” when profits distributed to Allen & Overy partners, for example, ranged from £712,000 to £2.8m last year.
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