Conditions

You are reading current version in effect from 25 November 2019
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You are reading current version in effect from 25 November 2019

Guidance

Guidance

How we make decisions and the criteria we apply

We are the regulator of legal services delivered by solicitors, law firms, and individuals working and holding roles within those firms in England and Wales. We use our regulatory powers to protect consumers of legal services and support the operation of the rule of law and the proper administration of justice.

Glossary terms

SRA

means the Solicitors Regulation Authority

authorised body

means:

  1. a body that has been authorised by the SRA to practise as a licensed body or a recognised body; or
  2. a sole practitioner's practice that has been authorised by the SRA as a recognised sole practice
manager

means:

  1. the sole principal in a recognised sole practice;
  2. a member of a LLP;
  3. a director of a company;
  4. a partner in a partnership; or
  5. in relation to any other body, a member of its governing body
compliance officer

is a reference to a body's COLP or its COFA

employee

means an individual who is:

  1. engaged under a contract of service by a person, firm or organisation or its wholly owned service company;
  2. engaged under a contract for services, made between a firm or organisation and:
    1. that individual;
    2. an employment agency; or
    3. a company which is not held out to the public as providing legal services and is wholly owned and directed by that individual, or

under which the person, firm or organisation has exclusive control over the individual's time for all or part of the individual's working week, save that:

  1. for the purposes of the SRA Financial Services (Scope) Rules, means an individual who is employed in connection with the firm's regulated financial services activities under a contract of service or under a contract for services such that he or she is held out as an employee or consultant of the firm
  2. for the purposes of the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules and the MTC, means any person other than a principal:
    1. employed or otherwise engaged in the insured firm's practice (including under a contract for services) including, without limitation, as a solicitor, lawyer, trainee solicitor or trainee lawyer, consultant, associate, locum tenens, agent, appointed person, office or clerical staff member or otherwise;
    2. seconded to work in the insured firm's practice; or
    3. seconded by the insured firm to work elsewhere,

    but does not include any person who is engaged by the insured firm under a contract for services in respect of any work where that person is required, whether under the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules or under the rules of any other professional body, to take out or to be insured under separate professional indemnity insurance in respect of that work

and the term "employer" is to be construed accordingly

owner

means, in relation to a body, a person with any interest in the body, save that:

  1. in the SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules, and the SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations, 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
  2. for the purposes of the SRA Principles and the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms means a person who holds a material interest in the body; and
  3. for the purposes of the SRA Assessment of Character and Suitability Rules includes owners who have no active role in the running of the business as well as owners who do,

and "own" and "owned" shall be construed accordingly

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

client

means the person for whom you act and, where the context permits, includes prospective and former clients

in the SRA Financial Services (Scope) Rules, in relation to any regulated financial services activities carried on by an authorised body for a trust or the estate of a deceased person (including a controlled trust), means the trustees or personal representatives in their capacity as such and not any person who is a beneficiary under the trust or interested in the estate

regulatory arrangements

has the meaning given to it by section 21 of the LSA

regulatory objectives

has the meaning given to it by section 1 of the LSA