Lawyers warned on profiteering

Lawyers were today facing a crackdown on client charges to counter fears of profiteering.

The Law Society is drawing up a new code of conduct for solicitors after figures showing record profits for top firms.

The biggest have doubled their revenue in six years, and the society wants to ensure companies are putting professional ethics before profits.

A report by magazine Legal Business tomor row is expected to show that leading firms shared revenues of ?9.11 billion of which ?2.7 billion is profit. Individual lawyers with companies such as Slaughter and May and Clifford Chance took home more than ?1 million.

The society's standards board is expected to lay down 10 core duties for firms to ensure they do not "pad out" clients' bills or ignore potential conflicts of interest.

Its chairman Andrew Holroyd calls in the Law Society Gazette for firms to balance their desire to make money with high ethical standards "because it can't be profit at all costs".

The society's training chief, Sue Nelson, said there were concerns that "young lawyers don't have any ethics".