The Law Society is poised to make a series of job cuts across its representative arm, it emerged this week, in the latest evidence of cost-cutting at Chancery Lane.
More than 20 staff are set to be affected by the shake-up, which is believed to be focused on the IT and technical division, which includes around 150 of its 1,360-strong total workforce.
It is understood that chief executive Desmond Hudson this month launched an internal investigation after it emerged that the re-launch of the professional body’s new website, which was to go live in January, has been delayed.
Hudson will liaise with the corporate governance board and was due to conduct a series of meetings with affected staff this week.
The cuts will not affect the Law Society’s regulatory function, which will be renamed the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) from January.
Chancery Lane declined to comment on the current situation, with a spokesperson instead confirming only that "significant changes" would be made this week.
The move follows a major Law Society-backed consultation with the profession earlier this year, which was the catalyst for four redundancies across Chancery Lane’s international and library departments.
The cutbacks, which were announced in August, were smaller than expected but also included a jobs freeze with an additional 12 advertised positions cancelled.
The shake-up is the latest part of the Law Society’s drive to cap its spiralling costs base, which saw its total annual spending rise by 9% last year hit to £118m.
One council member told Legal Week: "If we want to do new things with this organisation, then we have got to look at the face value of what we already do and unfortunately that sometimes means change."
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Law Society poised to cut more than 20 jobs in cost reduction exercise
Published: 07/12/2006 00:00
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