Hickman & Rose partner Andrew Katzen took part in a ’roundtable meeting’ organised by the Law Society Gazette which addressed the various challenges faced by medium-sized law firms.

The meeting featured representatives of specialist law firms working in various areas, but as Hickman & Rose’s Head of Regulatory Law, Andrew focussed on regulatory issues: specifically how law firms can cope with the SRA’s growing regulatory burden.

“I get calls every day from law firms who are under investigation by the SRA or are looking for advice about the complexity of professional regulation,” Andrew told the meeting.

“We’ve got the worst of both worlds: we have a system which is principles-based, which basically means that the SRA, with the benefit of hindsight, will blame us if we get anything wrong.

“But we also have a plethora of guidance… and woe betide you if you don’t follow it. It’s an extraordinary situation and it needs to change.“

The Law Society Gazette produced a write up of the meeting, which is available on its website.