The Law Society has agreed to redis-tribute the bulk of a multi-million pound surplus from the Solicitors Indemnity Fund (SIF) to law firms across England and Wales – as Chancery Lane considers the funding options for its 2005 budget.

The society’s decision-making council agreed on 24 February to distribute the bulk of a £54.5m cash surplus generated by the SIF. However, it has yet to come up with any kind of distribution formula.