RULES requiring law firms to be more open about their legal fees have been welcomed by a Swindon-based firm.

Royds Withy King, which has an office on Regent Circus, welcomed the new requirements for firms to be more transparent about their prices to businesses and individuals seeking legal advice.

The firm has introduced three new calculators on its website to meet the new rules, which were introduced after a Competition and Markets Authority study concluded that insufficient information on price, quality and service hindered consumers' and small businesses' ability to choose the best option for legal support.

Regulated firms will get a digital badge displayed on their websites to help people understand the protections that regulation provides.

Graham Street, managing partner at Royds Withy King, explained: “Despite resistance from some parts of the legal sector, we think the SRA’s new rules on pricing and transparency are a good thing, enabling clients to evaluate their options and make more informed decisions.

"Rather than bury our pricing in the back end of our website, we have created online calculators so that clients can quickly and easily work out their costs and access supporting information on the service levels they can expect.

"From the conversations we’ve had, it appears that many firms are doing the bare minimum to meet the requirements, but we’ve embraced it as a way of engaging with our clients and adding value.”

SRA regulated firms with residential property, uncontested probate, debt recovery, employment tribunals and immigration teams have to publish price and service information relating to these areas along with their complaints procedures.

Graham added: “Although the new rules apply to just a few practice areas, we believe that the SRA will extend them over time to cover most aspects of service delivery."