Respected solicitor-advocate Michael Caplan QC is to step down as chairman of the Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates (Sahca) after two years at the helm.

Caplan, a partner at Kingsley Napley who is also one of only eight solicitor-advocate QCs, will stand down in November.

Caplan said that a new head should be chosen in time for the handover next month.

Caplan, who is one of the most high profile solicitor-advocates, has been a member of Sahca since it was set up eight years ago and previously served as secretary and vice chairman of the society.

He has been a vigorous campaigner for solicitor-advocates to be allowed to wear the same court dress as barristers.

Caplan, who described himself as a "friend of the bar", said that he perceived that the solicitors' and barristers' professions were coming closer together and that solicitor-advocates were receiving a much greater degree of recognition than they did when the position was created 10 years ago.

"Solicitor-advocates are being made silks, some barristers are becoming solicitor-advocates, so that they can join solicitors' firms and it is increasingly becoming a level playing field," he said.

He also predicted that within a year wigs would no longer be used in the civil courts, but solicitors would have the option of using them during criminal proceedings.

There are now around 2,000 solicitor-advocates and a number of large City firms, most notably Lovells and Herbert Smith, are aiming to get the majority of their advocates higher rights of audience.