It is very important next March 2012 that you choose your Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) wisely. You must choose someone that you trust to make sensible decisions, but more importantly, that has the authority to report non-compliances to the SRA without fear of being overruled by the partnership.
If that person is thwarted in their attempt to report what they regard as a serious non-compliance to the SRA, their only option is to resign their post. To have to explain why the COLP or COFA has resigned to the SRA could be just as damaging as the report would have been if it had been permitted.