Welcome to the latest issue of SRA Update. This month we highlight a range of resources and reports, which hopefully will provide you with important guidance and best practice in your day-to-day work. This includes a review into the use of strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPPs) and how firms can steer clear of these, guidance for in-house solicitors and information on offering qualifying work experience.
If you are in the Leicester or Manchester areas, you also still have the opportunity to sign-up to our free Innovate roadshows, or to join roundtables where you can meet members of our senior team to discuss the key issues for you and your firm. And it is not just if you live in those areas that you have the chance to get involved with our work. We are still keen to hear from anyone who has a view on what the future of consumer protection should look like in our sector, your views really matter on this as we build toward developing firm proposals later in the year.
Due to ongoing concerns, including from the Financial Conduct Authority, over how compensation claims relating to financial product mis-selling are being handled by some firms, we have issued new guidance and a related warning notice. The materials cover a range of issues, including many related specifically to the handling of bulk/mass volume claims.
Read more about: Warning over bulk financial compensation claims
As part of our commitment to delivering an evidence-based approach to how we regulate, we have published an externally produced review looking at the impacts, up to the year three mark, of our Standards and Regulations reforms.
Read more about: Further review of new rules
We have recently published a new review looking at law firm understanding of avoiding getting involved in strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). The review involved visits and file inspections across a range of regulated firms and found good overall awareness and lots of best practice examples.
Read more about: Review reveals firms have good awareness about SLAPPs
Our review of consumer protection arrangements, in response to shifting risks in the sector continues, and we are keen to hear your thoughts. The review focuses on how to reduce the risk that something goes wrong at a regulated law firm, while finding the right balance between protections and potential impact on the cost of legal services. Included in this review is consideration of compensation fund arrangements.
Read more about: Review of consumer protection measures under way
Responding to feedback we have received over the past 12 months, we published a new suite of draft guidance and resources designed specifically for in-house solicitors. Learn more about these materials and what issues they cover.
Read more about: Resources for in-house solicitors
Coinciding with the release of our support materials for in-house solicitors was our latest in-house annual conference. Topics discussed by our expert panels included in-house leadership, a solicitor’s role in supporting their employer’s approaches to environmental, social and governance issues, and how to maintain and develop skills and professional competence in an in-house setting.
Read more about: Watch back sessions from in-house conference
Find out more about the latest lawtech developments at our Innovate events. They are free to attend and will involve a morning’s worth of high-tech debate. They take place in Manchester on Wednesday 15 May, and Leicester on Wednesday 19 June.
Read more about: Join us at our Innovate events
Join us for an informal roundtable and networking event with senior members of our team in Manchester and Leicester, where we are keen to hear from you, the profession, and the key regulatory and wider issues you face on a day-to-day basis. You can book a place to talk matters through in tea-time sessions being staged in Manchester or Leicester, in May and June respectively.
Read more about: Meet our senior team
Qualifying work experience (QWE) is the on-the-job training needed to qualify as a solicitor through the SQE route. But what is it? If you are a law firm or organisation providing QWE and want to know more, sign up for our free webinar on Wednesday 22 May. Find out about recording candidates’ experience, what counts and what doesn’t, and how you as the supervising solicitor can sign it off.
Read more about: Webinar – QWE back to basics
HM Treasury and the Home Office are consulting on views about money laundering to help shape the next National Risk Assessment. You can have your say on what you feel are the important issues by completing an online questionnaire. You have until the end of the month.
Read more about: Have your say on money-laundering matters
We have launched a further consultation on rule changes needed to allow the potential regulation of non-authorised Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) members. The suggested arrangements explain the rules that would apply to CILEX paralegals and students should CILEX’s proposal to re-delegate regulation to us go ahead.
Read more about: Consulting on CILEX members
Are you worried about your health affecting your work? Life as a solicitor can be challenging and the demands and pressures can easily build up. We can signpost you to sources of help and make adjustments for you if you are in difficulty
Read more about: Your health, your career
