Finance provider Syscap revealed that 3,465 lawyers failed to renew certificates in December, meaning a loss of almost of three per cent of the UK’s practising solicitors.
City AM reports that factors including lack of bank lending, legal aid cuts and an increase in the cost of practising certificates have forced many lawyers to throw in the towel.
According to Syscap, the 2012 Practising Certificate costs for a single-lawyer firm rose from £1,561 in 2011 to £2,201 in 2012.
Syscap chief executive Phillip White said that the exodus was ‘surprising’, suggesting that small law firms may be under even more pressure than was first thought.