SRA Handbook

Interpretation

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Version 1 of the Handbook was published on 16/09/2011. For more information, please click 'History' Above

Rule 1: Interpretation

1.1

In these rules, the words listed below and italicised thereafter are to be interpreted as follows:

AJA

means the Administration of Justice Act 1985;

applicant

means a person or persons applying for a grant out of the Compensation Fund under rule 3 of these rules;

approved regulator

means any body listed as an approved regulator in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the LSA or designated as an approved regulator by an order under paragraph 17 of that Schedule;

authorised body

means a body that has been authorised by the SRA, to practise as a licensed body or a recognised body;

authorised non-SRA firm

means a firm which is authorised to carry on legal activities by an approved regulator other than the SRA;

barrister

means a person called to the Bar by one of the Inns of Court and who has completed pupillage and is authorised by the General Council of the Bar to practise as a barrister;

BSB

means the Bar Standards Board;

company

means a company registered under the Companies Acts, an overseas company incorporated in an Establishment Directive state and registered under the Companies Act 1985 and/or the Companies Act 2006 or a societas Europaea;

defaulting practitioner

means:

(i)

a solicitor in respect of whose act or default, or in respect of whose employee's act or default, an application for a grant is made;

(ii)

an REL in respect of whose act or default, or in respect of whose employee's act or default, an application for a grant is made;

(iii)

a recognised body in respect of whose act or default, or in respect of whose manager's or employee's act or default, an application for a grant is made;

(iv)

an RFL who is a manager of a partnership, LLP or company together with a solicitor, an REL or a recognised body, and in respect of whose act or default or in respect of whose employee's act or default, an application for a grant is made; or

(v)

a licensed body in respect of whose act or default, or in respect of whose owner's, or manager's or employee's act or default, an application for a grant is made;

and the expressions "defaulting solicitor", "defaulting REL", "defaulting recognised body", "defaulting RFL" and "defaulting licensed body" shall be construed accordingly;

director

means a director of a company; and in relation to a societas Europaea includes:

(i)

in a two-tier system, a member of the management organ and a member of the supervisory organ; and

(ii)

in a one-tier system, a member of the administrative organ;

EEL

means exempt European lawyer, namely a member of an Establishment Directive profession:

(i)

registered with the BSB; or

(ii)

based entirely at an office or offices outside England and Wales (whether entitled to practise as such or not);

Establishment Directive

means the Establishment of Lawyers Directive 98/5/EC;

Establishment Directive profession

means any profession listed in Article 1.2(a) of the Establishment Directive, including a solicitor, barrister or advocate of the UK;

Establishment Directive state

means a state to which the Establishment Directive applies;

firm

means an authorised body, a recognised sole practitioner or a body or individual which should be authorised by the SRA as a recognised body or recognised sole practitioner (but which could not be authorised by another approved regulator);

interest holder

means a person who has an interest or an indirect interest, or holds a material interest, in a body (and "indirect interest" and "interest" have the same meaning as in the LSA), and references to "holds an interest" shall be construed accordingly;

lawyer of England and Wales

means:

(i)

a solicitor; or

(ii)

an individual who is authorised to carry on legal activities in England and Wales by an approved regulator other than the SRA, but excludes a member of an Establishment Directive profession registered with the BSB under the Establishment Directive;

legal activity

has the meaning given in section 12 of the LSA and includes any reserved legal activity and any other activity which consists of the provision of legal advice or assistance, or representation in connection with the application of the law or resolution of legal disputes;

licensed body

means a body licensed by the SRA under Part 5 of the LSA;

licensing authority

means an approved regulator which is designated as a licensing authority under Part 1 of Schedule 10 to the LSA, and whose licensing rules have been approved for the purposes of the LSA;

LLP

means a limited liability partnership incorporated under the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2000;

LSA

means the Legal Services Act 2007;

manager

means:

(i)

a member of an LLP;

(ii)

a director of a company;

(iii)

a partner in a partnership; or

(iv)

in relation to any other body, a member of its governing body;

material interest

has the meaning given to it in Schedule 13 to the LSA; and a person holds a "material interest" in a body ("B"), if that person:

(i)

holds at least 10% of the shares in B;

(ii)

is able to exercise significant influence over the management of B by virtue of the person's shareholding in B;

(iii)

holds at least 10% of the shares in a parent undertaking ("P") of B;

(iv)

is able to exercise significant influence over the management of P by virtue of the person's shareholding in P;

(v)

is entitled to exercise, or control the exercise of, voting power in B which, if it consists of voting rights, constitutes at least 10% of the voting rights in B;

(vi)

is able to exercise significant influence over the management of B by virtue of the person's entitlement to exercise, or control the exercise of, voting rights in B;

(vii)

is entitled to exercise, or control the exercise of, voting power in P which, if it consists of voting rights, constitutes at least 10% of the voting rights in P; or

(viii)

is able to exercise significant influence over the management of P by virtue of the person's entitlement to exercise, or control the exercise of, voting rights in P;

and for the purpose of this definition, "person" means (i) the person, (ii) any of the person's associates, or (iii) the person and any of the person's associates taken together, and "parent undertaking" and "voting power" are to be construed in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 5 of Schedule 13 to the LSA;

member

means

(i)

in relation to a company a person who has agreed to be a member of the company and whose name is entered in the company's register of members; and

(ii)

in relation to an LLP, a member of that LLP;

non-solicitor employer

means any employer other than a recognised body, recognised sole practitioner, licensed body or authorised non-SRA firm;

owner

in relation to a body, means a person with any ownership interest in the body, save that (i) in the SRA Authorisation Rules, owner means any person who holds a material interest in an authorised body, and in the case of a partnership, any partner regardless of whether they hold a material interest in the partnership; and (ii) for the purposes of Chapter 12 of the SRA Code of Conduct means a person having a substantial ownership interest in a separate business and "own" and "owned by" shall be construed accordingly;

partner

means a person who is or is held out as a partner in a partnership;

partnership

means an unincorporated body in which persons are or are held out as partners and does not include a body incorporated as an LLP;

practice

means the activities, in that capacity, of:

(i)

a solicitor;

(ii)

an REL, from an office or offices within the UK;

(iii)

a member of an Establishment Directive profession registered with the BSB under the Establishment Directive, carried out from an office or offices in England and Wales;

(iv)

an RFL, from an office or offices in England and Wales as:

(A)

an employee of a recognised sole practitioner;

(B)

a manager, employee or owner of an authorised body or of an authorised non-SRA firm; or

(C)

a manager, employee or owner of a body which is a manager or owner of an authorised body or of an authorised non-SRA firm;

(v)

an authorised body;

(vi)

a manager of an authorised body;

(vii)

a person employed in England and Wales by an authorised body or recognised sole practitioner;

(viii)

a lawyer of England and Wales; or

(ix)

an authorised non-SRA firm;

and "practise" and "practising" should be construed accordingly;

principal

means:

(i)

a sole practitioner;

(ii)

a partner in a partnership;

(iii)

in the case of a recognised body which is an LLP or company, the recognised body itself;

(iv)

in the case of a licensed body which is an LLP or company, the licensed body itself;

(v)

the principal solicitor or REL (or any one of them) employed by a non-solicitor employer (for example, in a law centre or in commerce and industry);

save for in the SRA Authorisation Rules where "principal" means a sole practitioner or a partner in a partnership;

recognised body

means a body recognised by the SRA under section 9 of the AJA;

recognised sole practitioner

means a solicitor or REL authorised by the SRA under section 1B of the SA to practise as a sole practitioner;

Regulated Activities Order

means the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001;

regulated activity

means

(i)

subject to sub-paragraph (ii) below:

(A)

any reserved legal activity;

(B)

any other legal activity; and

(C)

any other activity in respect of which a licensed body is regulated pursuant to Part 5 of the LSA;

(ii)

in the SRA Financial Services (Scope) Rules, means an activity which is specified in the Regulated Activities Order;

REL

means registered European lawyer, namely an individual registered with the SRA under regulation 17 of the European Communities (Lawyer's Practice) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000 no 1119);

RFL

means registered foreign lawyer, namely an individual registered with the SRA under section 89 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990;

representative

means the personal representative of a deceased defaulting practitioner; the trustee of a bankrupt defaulting practitioner; the administrator of an insolvent defaulting practitioner, or other duly appointed representative of a defaulting practitioner;

reserved legal activity

has the meaning given in section 12 of the LSA, and includes the exercise of a right of audience, the conduct of litigation, reserved instrument activities, probate activities, notarial activities and the administration of oaths, as defined in Schedule 2 to the LSA;

SA

means the Solicitors Act 1974;

SIIR

means the Solicitors' Indemnity Insurance Rules 2000 to 2010 or SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules or any rules subsequent thereto;

societas Europaea

means a European public limited liability company within the meaning of article 1 of Council Regulation 2157/2001/EC;

Society

means the Law Society, in accordance with section 87 of the SA;

sole practitioner

means a solicitor or an REL practising as a sole principal, and does not include a solicitor or an REL practising in-house;

solicitor

means a person who has been admitted as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales and whose name is on the roll kept by the Society under section 6 of the SA, save that in the SIIR includes a person who practises as a solicitor whether or not he or she has in force a practising certificate and also includes practice under home title of a former REL who has become a solicitor;

SRA

means the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and reference to the SRA as an approved regulator or licensing authority means the SRA carrying out regulatory functions assigned to the Society as an approved regulator or licensing authority;

SRA Accounts Rules

means the SRA Accounts Rules 2011;

SRA Authorisation Rules

means the SRA Authorisation Rules for Legal Services Bodies and Licensable Bodies 2011;

SRA Code of Conduct

means the SRA Code of Conduct 2011;

SRA Financial Services (Scope) Rules

means the SRA Financial Services (Scope) Rules 2001;

SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules

means the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules 2011;

trustee

includes a personal representative (i.e. an executor or an administrator), and "trust" includes the duties of a personal representative;

voting rights

in relation to a body which does not have general meetings at which matters are decided by the exercise of voting rights, means the right under the constitution of the body to direct the overall policy of the body or alter the terms of its constitution

1.2

Other expressions in these rules have the meaning assigned to them by the SA.

1.3

The Interpretation Act 1978 applies to these rules as it applies to an Act of Parliament.

1.4

These rules, in so far as they apply to licensed bodies, shall remain in force from the date they come into effect until 31 December 2012 (the "Transitional Period").

1.5

Notwithstanding the provisions of rule 25.2, the Society shall remain at liberty to receive claims, make grants and loans, recover, and raise contributions after the Transitional Period in respect of matters arising in the Transitional Period.