SRA Handbook

RELs

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Version 2 of the Handbook was published on 23/12/2011. For more information, please click 'History' Above

Rule 2: RELs

Practice from an office in England and Wales

2.1

You may practise as an REL from an office in England and Wales in the following ways only:

(a)

as a recognised sole practitioner or the employee of a recognised sole practitioner;

(b)

as an REL exempted under Rule 10.2 from the obligation to be a recognised sole practitioner;

(c)

as a manager, employee, member or interest holder of:

(i)

an authorised body; or

(ii)

a body corporate which is a manager, member or interest holder of an authorised body,

provided that in the case of both (i) and (ii) all work you do is:

(A)

carried out through the authorised body and of a sort the body is authorised by the SRA to carry out; or

(B)

done for the body itself, or falls within Rule 4.1 to 4.11 (In-house practice: Work colleagues, Related bodies and Pro bono work), and where this sub-paragraph applies, references in Rule 4 to "employer" shall be construed as referring to that body, accordingly;

(d)

as a manager, employee, member or interest holder of:

(i)

an authorised non-SRA firm; or

(ii)

a body corporate which is a manager, member or interest holder of an authorised non-SRA firm,

provided that in the case of both (i) and (ii) all work you do is:

(A)

carried out through the authorised non-SRA firm and of a sort the firm is authorised by the firm's approved regulator to carry out; or

(B)

done for the firm itself, or falls within Rule 4.1 to 4.11 (In-house practice: Work colleagues, Related bodies and Pro bono work), and where this sub-paragraph applies, references in Rule 4 to "employer" shall be construed as referring to that firm, accordingly;

(e)

as the employee of another person, business or organisation, provided that you undertake work only for your employer, or as permitted by Rule 4 (In-house practice).

Practice from an office in Scotland or Northern Ireland

2.2

You may practise as an REL from an office in Scotland or Northern Ireland in the following ways only:

(a)

as a sole practitioner (including a recognised sole practitioner);

(b)

as the employee of a sole principal who is a lawyer;

(c)

as a manager, employee, member or interest holder of an authorised body;

(d)

as an employee of a business which is not required to be an authorised body provided that it meets all the following conditions:

(i)

the business carries on the provision of legal advice or assistance, or representation in connection with the application of the law or resolution of legal disputes;

(ii)

a controlling majority of the managers and the interest holders are lawyers and/or bodies corporate in which lawyers constitute a controlling majority of the managers and interest holders; and

(iii)

if any of the business's managers or interest holders are non-lawyers, the professional rules governing a solicitor of that jurisdiction would allow such a solicitor to practise through a business of that composition and structure;

(e)

as manager, member or interest holder of a business which is not required to be an authorised body, provided that it does not practise from an office in England and Wales, and that it meets all the conditions set out in sub-paragraph (d)(i) to (iii) above;

(f)

as the employee of another person, business or organisation, provided that you undertake work only for your employer, or as permitted by Rule 4.22 to 4.25 (In-house practice overseas).

Guidance notes

(i)

The overseas provisions for an REL are the same as those for a solicitor practising overseas except that they apply only in Scotland and Northern Ireland. RELs are not subject to Rule 2 in relation to practice from an office outside the UK.

(ii)

See Rule 4.3 and the definition of "in-house practice" in the SRA Code of Conduct, in relation to in-house work that you carry out for clients which is outside of your firm's authorisation.