Does Your Firm Have a Pervasive Toxic Culture? The SRA Would Like to Know.

According to a recent report in the Law Society Gazette, law firms with a “pervasive toxic culture” may face fines from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), which has stirred plenty of interest within the law firm management community. As someone who has worked in multiple law firms, I have seen how workplace culture can vary even within the same firm.

In my experience, a positive workplace culture is strongly correlated with organisational performance. On the other hand, a negative (toxic) culture can lead to underperformance and high employee turnover, which is costly and challenging for employers. I have known culture to differ between different offices of the same firm; from different teams within the same firm; even differ between different floors of the same office building! 

People want to work in organisations that value and engage with them and have a positive culture. As an employer, if you don’t create this environment, you run the risk of a high churn rate of staff with recruiting new members of the team being both incredibly difficult and expensive. 

If a toxic culture exists, Managing Partners have a responsibility to address the root cause and eliminate it. This is a difficult task as culture is challenging to measure and change. However, it is essential to have support from fellow partners to confront problematic individuals who act against the firm’s values, even if they are high billers.

Ignoring unacceptable behavior in a firm may result in fines, disciplinary action, and reputational damage. Therefore, it is crucial to proactively address and eliminate a toxic culture to create a positive environment for employees and promote firm success.

If you would like to discuss any of the themes in this blog, please contact me at ih@hopkinslegalconsulting.co.uk or 0791 666 9095.