The Student Room Group

Starting your own practice

Hey you guys,

Ive always had an ambition to start my own law firm when the time comes,im just jotting a few things down on paper to see what the ougoings would be as im bored.Can anyone shed some light on other things i may have missed out on outgoings please

So far i have;

Staff salary
Rental of property
Bills (electricity, internet and so on)
Advertisement
Stationary
An Accountant

I havent added start up costs as i just wanted to see what sort of outgoings there would be.

Just throw in your ideas about the topic if you have time

Cheers
Don't forget insurance - public liability, employees, and professional indemnity.
Reply 2
Could you guestimate the yearly cost for public liability and professional indemnity?
No, sorry.
Reply 4
Unsurprisingly, the cost of PI cover will vary depending on the type of firm, the level of cover required and the riskiness of the work undertaken (i.e. residential conveyancing in Hull or international M&A work). The Law Soc requires all firms to have a minimum of GBP2m in PI cover and LLPs to have a minimum of 3mill.

Large firms who may be exposed to be substantial risks will often seek cover way beyond those minimums (i.e. large city firms may insure themselves for 100m plus).

A medium size practice could easily expect to pay around 300K for its annual cover.
Tax aswell... doesn't seem to have been mentioned above.
Reply 6
I'm pretty sure there are Law Society regulations which state that you can't set up on your own until you're about five years qualified.
Reply 7
Sorry, I got that wrong.

From Law Society website:

2.06 Limitation on practice for newly qualified solicitors

A solicitor cannot normally practise as a sole principal until he or she has been admitted for three years. At least one of the partners in a firm must normally have been admitted for at least three years.



1. A solicitor who has been admitted for less than three years does not qualify to supervise an office open to the public or open to telephone calls from the public, under rule 13(1)(a) of the Solicitors’ Practice Rules 1990 (see 3.08, p.73). The duty of supervision in private practice can be fulfilled by an assistant solicitor or consultant rather than a principal, but at least one principal in the practice must be a solicitor who has been admitted for at least three years.

2. Rule 13 makes specific provision for multi-national partnerships and for recognised bodies (incorporated practices).

3. A new version of rule 13 (see Annex 3C, p.113) will come into force on 23rd December 1999. It contains important transitional provisions.



You might want check the Law Society website out for further information you require:

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/professional/practicesupport/startingup.law

Hope this helps.
Reply 8
Thanx for your help,much appreciated
Reply 9
also, practising certificate fee..!!

Latest