SRA & SPG Meetings

As part of our services in supporting Sole Practitioners, members of our Executive Committee hold regular meetings with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, often in Birmingham, and sometimes in London or online.

Our quarterly meeting at the SRA’s London office in December was arranged with the help of James Thomas, the SRA’s Public Affairs Manager.

I attended on behalf of the Sole Practitioners’ Group, together with Sukhjit Ahluwalia, David Barton, Andrew Osadebe and Kemi Mosaku.

Ben Fisher, SRA’s Director of Communications, opened by providing a lively update on the SRA’s wider work since October, as well as answering questions raised by us.

Strategic lawsuits against public participation (or 'SLAPPs'):

Ben said that the war in Ukraine had been a stimulus in getting this on the public agenda, and there had been questions on it in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, as well as a campaigning letter to the Government, signed by 70 editors, journalists, publishers and lawyers, urging legislation. In essence, SLAPPS involve law firms sending threatening letters, in an abuse of the litigation process, which intimidate the recipient into, for example, not publishing a book: if the book is withheld from publication as a result, then the tactic has worked.

In November, the SRA published guidance on SLAPPS, including a warning notice to the profession and information for those who might be the target of SLAPPS, including guidance as to what would amount to “stepping across a line.” Ben said this is likely to be of more relevance to larger city firms than to sole practitioners.

Sanctions guidance:

Alongside the SLAPPS guidance, Ben said that the SRA has also published new guidance for complying with the UK Sanctions Regime. This may be relevant even if there are no anti-moneylaundering (AML) considerations, as there is a prohibition on taking instructions from a sanctioned person unless a licence from the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is in place. An online session on Sanctions is available from the SRA’s Compliance Conference.

In relation to AML, Ben noted that you cannot rely on another firm’s AML checks.

Immigration and Asylum services:

Ben reported that the SRA has been looking into what is, and is not working in this area of legal practice, and has published guidance on it: this highlights the importance of discussing up front with a client the strengths and weaknesses of their case; clearly outlining the client’s options (the pros and cons); preparing properly for online hearings; making it easier for clients to complain; and highlighting the importance of appropriate and proportionate supervision. The supervision guidance is also relevant in all other areas of law where a solicitor is supervising staff.

Regulators’ Pioneer Fund:

The SRA has received a grant of £120,000 from this Fund to enable it to work with the Law Society and the Access to Justice Foundation in exploring ways of using technology to help resolve disputes, instead of going to court. Ben said he would welcome good ideas on this, so please let us know if you have any suggestions, and we can feed them through.

SRA’s Business Plan:

The final year of the SRA’s three-year business plan has been published and can be seen on the SRA’s website. The SRA will be consulting in the Spring for the next Business Plan, which is due to start in November 2023.

Keeping of the Roll:

Ben reminded us that, from April 2023, solicitors without a practising certificate will have to apply to remain on the Roll of Solicitors. The annual fee is expected to be about £20.

There are currently about 63,000 non-practising solicitors on the Roll, and some difficulty is expected in contacting them all. If you know any former sole practitioners likely to be in this situation, whose contact details may have changed, please let us know so we can get in touch with them.

Continuing Competence Survey:

The SRA is looking for examples of how solicitors and firms are supporting continuing competence, including new ideas and best practice. The SRA would welcome your feedback, and the web address for this is form.sra.org.uk/s3/CC-Casestudies

Consultations:

The SRA closed its consultation on fines in November, and it will report its decisions on this after internal discussions in January.

Two further consultations are coming up, one being for a Standards and Regulations “snagging list,” to tidy up and improve rules, and the other on Claims Management Services.

CILEX:

Ben reported that discussions are taking place about the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) moving to a different regulator. The Legal Services Board is looking into it, and the SRA has agreed to have formal discussions with CILEX. By comparison, CILEX has an annual turnover of about £1.7m, compared with the SRA’s £80m.

Investigation and Supervision:

In reply to a question about the lengthy delays experienced by some of those facing investigations, Ben has reported that it is an issue that has been recognised at SRA Board level, and that the senior management team is also aware of it. Although we heard that progress had been made on reducing times taken to deal with complaints – particularly those cases taking longer than 12 months to resolve – Ben recognised that there was still more to do.

One case mentioned in outline had involved alleged misconduct at a work event, and Ben said that the SRA had seen a big increase in complaints along these lines, especially since the #metoo movement, with more people now willing to report instances of potential sexual misconduct or instances happening outside the workplace.

Solicitors Indemnity Fund update:

In respect of the discussions about post-six-year run-off cover, Ben reported that the consultation on the SRA’s proposed arrangements for an SRArun indemnity scheme to provide “consumer protection for post six-year negligence” was closing in early January. The SRA Board is to consider responses to the consultation at its February meeting and will then provide an update. If the scheme is to involve a further levy, there will be a further consultation.

Ben thanked the SPG for its involvement in the SIF debate and paid tribute to the contributions made by Clive Sutton and his high level of engagement.

Authorisation trends and PC renewals in 2022:

Raj Uppal (SRA’s Director of Authorisation) and James Andronov (SRA’s Head of Individual Based Authorisation) provided an update on authorisation trends and on the most recent round of practising certificate renewals.

James and Raj provided some statistics: there are about 220,000 solicitors on the Roll, of whom about 160,000 hold a practising certificate, and there are 7,000 firms. Ten years ago, by comparison, there were 160,000 on the Roll, with 110,000 of these holding a practising certificate, and 10,000 firms. James commented that there was no rise in the number of firm closures being seen.

Incidentally, it may be of interest to our readers that at the end of October 2022, the SRA reported that the total number of firms run as a traditional sole practice or as a company with a sole director was 4,075 (comprising 1,723 in sole practice, 2,341 companies with a sole director, and 11 others, such as companies limited by guarantee and unlimited companies).

As to PC renewals, we heard that feedback to the SRA is that the system has been improving, and that there are to be further technical upgrades over the next two years, particularly for big firms.

James and Raj reported on the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). The new SQE entry route has now started, and of current entrants to the profession 400 out of 7,000 have taken the SQE route, with a strong interest in SQE being seen amongst foreign applicants (for example from Hong Kong and Rwanda). We were told that the benchmark for foreign applicants is high. Written examinations can be taken anywhere in the world, but oral exams can only be done in London, Manchester and Cardiff. Work experience must be in the UK.

Some further statistics provided were that 6,500 had taken SQE1 and SQE2, with a pass rate of 53% for SQE1 and 78% for SQE2. The pass rate has been higher for those with practical experience.

Hamish McNair SRA Liaison Lead