Practising certificate fee rises to £830

The Law Society will earn an extra £15m next year from practising certificate fees after the society’s council voted in favour of raising the fee to £830 per annum.

The rise, which will take effect from November, is a 5 per cent increase from last year’s fee of £790. It means that top City firms could each be paying nearly £2m to the society to enable their lawyers to practise.

According to the Law Society, the rise is due to budgetary adjustments, including the costs of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner and an increase of 9 per cent in employers’ pension fund contributions.

Additionally, the low-income threshold has been raised to £20,000 from £13,500. Solicitors earning less than £20,000 pay just 50 per cent of the practising certificate fee.

The society receives £78m from the practising certificate.