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Brum council law team scoops work from firms

How can an hourly rate of £90 not be subsidised by the local taxpayer? Assuming, say, 1,100 chargeable hours a year (we are talking local authority workloads here), that equates to fee income of around £100,000 pa. How can that cover costs? Presumably the cost of employing the "blended" lawyer will be around £50,000 pa. Their secretary will cost £25,000. These figures allow for employers NI and pension contributions. That leaves £25,000 for everything else. If PI cover is 5% (£5,000) and accommodation costs are 10% (£10,000) that leaves £10,000 for all the other expenses such as stationery, library, subscriptions, courses, postage, etc, etc. And what about contributions towards management and other overheads? Part of reception cover, part of the accounts team, part of human resources, etc. If I were a private practitioner dependent on local authority work I'd be pretty miffed. But who is going to speak out? To do so would probably not endear oneself to local authority Heads of Legal.

19-Sep-2011

1:53 pm