{
  "id": 19650479,
  "title": "Lawyers slapped with fee hike as regulator scrambles to fix its ‘foundations’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/lawyers-slapped-with-fee-hike-as-regulator-scrambles-to-fix-its",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-12T12:03:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "City AM",
    "slug": "city-am",
    "url": "https://www.cityam.com/lawyers-slapped-with-fee-hike-as-regulator-scrambles-to-fix-its-foundations/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Lawyers and law firms in England and Wales will soon face a significant hike in fees to bolster the Solicitors Regulation Authority's (SRA) \"transformation\" strategy, following a series of high-profile corporate collapses. The SRA's practising certificate price is set to rise by over 26%, from £190 in 2025-26 to £240, generating £111.5m. Qualified solicitors must have a practising certificate to offer legal services.\n\nThe SRA's discretionary fund, which supports clients, small businesses, charities, and trusts affected by financial loss due to solicitor or law firm misconduct, has seen the largest jump in fees. Fees for solicitors will increase from £70 to £170, and for law firms from £1,950 to £2,170. This increase aims to meet future obligations, with over 500 applications already following the PM Law collapse in February.\n\nSince 2021-22, fees for lawyers have risen by 325%, while fees for law firms have increased by over 185%. The SRA is also grappling with a surge in misconduct reports, with assessments rising by 45% between November 2022 and October 2025. Sarah Rapson, the SRA's chief executive, announced a \"complete regulatory reset\" to address these challenges. The watchdog intends to introduce new rules requiring firms to provide specific timelines for resolving complaints and regular progress updates to clients. Additionally, the SRA plans to narrow its strategic focus, investing heavily in data collection and analysis to identify risks early and prevent collapses.",
  "summary": "Lawyers and law firms will soon face increased fees to support the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s “transformation” strategy, as the regulator looks to reinvent itself following a string of high-profile corporate collapses in recent years. As announced in its 2026-27 business plan, the regulator will increase its practising certificate price by over 26 per cent from [...]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}