The chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority is to step down 'towards the end of 2025' amid an unprecedently turbulent period for the watchdog. In an announcement this morning, the SRA announced that Paul Philip, who has headed the Birmingham-based body for more than 11 years, is to retire.
The SRA has come in for intense criticism from solicitors for its defiant response to last October’s independent report commissioned by super-regulator the Legal Services Board into the spectacular collapse of Axiom Ince, which cost the profession dear in hugely increased payments to the compensation fund. The LSB launched enforcement action against the SRA over the collapse, finding that the regulator failed to act 'adequately, effectively and efficiently'.
Philip and SRA chair Anna Bradley initially indicated that they intended to stay in post, despite calls for one or both to resign. Critics included former SRA board member Tony Williams, who declared that if Bradley and/or Philip would not resign or could not be removed, ‘the non-executive directors on the board at the authority should resign’.
Philip, 62, joined the SRA in 2014, succeeding Antony Townsend. He previously spent more than a decade at the General Medical Council.
Commenting, Law Society CEO Ian Jeffery paid tribute to Philip's 'personal contribution' to regulation of the profession, saying that he had 'achieved much'.
Jeffery added: 'He has led the SRA to a position where it now operates wholly independently of the Law Society and he has achieved much in his time. While the Law Society and the SRA will not always agree, I am grateful for the professional way he has engaged with us. Paul’s departure this autumn comes at a critical time in the history of the SRA. The hard lessons for the SRA from the Axiom and SSB collapses will require a period of deep reflection and significant organisational change. The handover to a new leader will be crucial to how the SRA moves forwards.'
The SRA is currently braced for another LSB-commissioned report, also by northern Irish firm Carson McDowell, into the equally spectacular demise of Sheffield bulk claims firm SSB Law. This could potentially leave the regulator even more exposed, as SSB's collapse has become a constituency issue for MPs. Homeowners left with huge legal bills have been lobbying their Westminster representatives for help. Unlike those left nursing huge losses by Axiom Ince, they have no recourse to the compensation fund.
The homeowners had taken no-win no-fee claims with SSB over cavity wall insulation that they said had caused mould and damp in their homes.
In its statement today, the SRA said Philip will depart 'towards the end of 2025, once a suitable replacement has been found'. The process of recruiting his successor will begin next month.
Philip commented: 'It has been a privilege to be able to play such a key role regulating in the public interest. It has been an incredibly interesting, challenging and fulfilling role. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the SRA, as well as the SRA Board – all of whom are united in delivering in the public interest. Both their support and challenge throughout the years has been invaluable. There is always more you would like to do and achieve, but I am proud of the progress we have made. After so long at the helm, this feels like the right time to retire and switch pace. But before then, there is a lot of significant work to progress. I then look forward to handing over to a new chief executive later in the year.’
Tony Williams, an SRA board member for six years and a former managing partner of Clifford Chance, commented: 'Paul has done 11 years and I think there should be time limits [for such jobs] anyway. To his credit he pulled the organisation up by its boostraps when he took over, but it is clearly time for a new broom at the SRA.'
Anna Bradley is to remain as SRA chair until the end of 2026 'to recruit and bed-in a new chief executive and deliver the corporate strategy'. She commented that Philip would be a 'hard act to follow', adding: ‘Paul has led the organisation through transformative change – including reforming our rules to get rid of unnecessary bureaucracy, introducing anti-money laundering regulatory arrangements, and developing and delivering the SQE to make sure everyone can trust that qualifying solicitors are meeting a consistent, high standard.
'When he took over, the SRA was still very much embedded in the Law Society governance structures. He has helped us negotiate our way through to becoming a separate legal entity, significantly improved our operational processes, and ensured we became a more efficient and effective regulator. The SRA is mid-way through its current strategy and last year strengthened its senior management structure, making this a good time for succession to occur.'
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