Solicitor-advocates have made a final effort to stop a scheme that will see judges evaluating their competence, which they claim would discriminate against solicitors.

The Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates (SAHCA) has written to Solicitors Regulation Authority board members and called on them to veto the proposal.

The Quality Assurance Scheme will see judicial assessment for advocates to reach four different grades, with the board expected to give it its final backing when it meets next week.

SAHCA is convinced its members could suffer discrimination during the assessments and argues the scheme is a ‘regressive step that runs counter to developments to liberalise the legal services market’.

The group’s chair Jo Cooper said the scheme ‘would have the capacity to distort the advocacy market if it tended to drive out competent solicitors who do not look, behave or sound like the majority practicing group at the self-employed Bar'.

In his letter to the SRA board members, he said: ‘The Board may share SAHCA’s doubts about the wisdom of putting the central aspect of the assessment process in the hands of a group which is demonstrably less diverse than either barristers or solicitors.’

The letter said: ‘The assessment strand would see judges who are actively engaged in decision-making in relation to live cases having at the same time to make assessments of the appearance and delivery of advocacy before them.

‘The assessment of one court professional by another in relation to a live case involves a clear potential conflict, especially given the relationship between advocate and judge.’

The letter suggests judges have not used the powers already available to them to report any shortfall in advocacy quality.

It adds there has been no attempt to determine trends in the rate of complaints by members of the public to either the SRA or Bar Standards Board.

Cooper said: ‘The approach of the front-line regulators appears to be molded in part by the explicit threat of enforcement action from above - both from the Legal Services Board as oversight regulator and to an extent from the judiciary - if a system is put in place which is considered to lack appropriate rigour.’

He said regulation must be ‘proportionate, consistent, targeted, transparent, accountable and agile’.

SAHCA makes it clear that it wants to play a ‘full part’ in developing any new scheme, but urges the SRA not to put the current proposal forward to the LSB.

The board first proposed a quality standards scheme last year, and handed over its development to a Joint Advocacy Group (JAG) composed of the primary regulators.

It has stated the need for a quality assurance scheme is ‘irrefutable’ to protect the interest of the client and the general public.

JAG says it has consulted widely during the development of the scheme, and the final proposals reflect the views of those who have commented.

The scheme will be introduced in phases starting with initial accreditation at levels three and four in December 2011.

The full roll-out is expected by spring 2012.