On 18 November 2024, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) released comprehensive guidance tailored to support the over 34,500 in-house solicitors working across England and Wales. This initiative, developed in response to stakeholder feedback and issues highlighted in the SRA’s 2023 thematic review, aims to address the unique challenges faced by in-house lawyers across diverse sectors…
The Solicitors Regulation Authority seeks views on new resources specifically for in-house lawyers
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has developed new resources to support the over 34,500 solicitors working in-house in England and Wales. These materials, created in collaboration with the regulator’s virtual in-house solicitor reference group, address issues identified in the SRA’s 2023 thematic review and feedback from in-house solicitors. When asked for comment, Juliet Oliver, General…
Agency over technocracy: how lawyer archetypes infect regulatory approaches: the FCA example
Clark, Trevor, et al. “Agency over technocracy: how lawyer archetypes infect regulatory approaches: the FCA example.” Legal Ethics (2022): 1-20. In this article, we look at the contested role of in-house lawyers in regulated organisations in the financial sector. A recent Financial Conduct Authority consultation on whether to designate the head of legal of banks, insurance companies…
Ethics and in house lawyers
A survey of 400 in-house lawyers, carried out by law professors from Exeter University and University College London in collaboration with flexible legal services provider Lawyers on Demand, has revealed that a third of in-house lawyers are sometimes placed in difficult moral positions. The research found that: 32% were asked ‘to advise or assist on things that made…
40 Percent of APAC in-house legal, compliance professionals find regulations a challenge
Some 40 percent of in-house legal and compliance professionals in the Asia-Pacific region find changing local and global regulatory requirements a major challenge, a new report has found. The report, titled “Facing the future: Developing a response to regulatory change” was released jointly by TMF Group and Asia Risk. It found that an alarming 57…
Regulating Law Firms from the Inside: The Role of Compliance Officers for Legal Practice in England and Wales
Following the Legal Services Act 2007, which permitted the delivery of legal services through Alternative Business Structures (ABS), the Solicitors Regulation Authority required all regulated legal service firms to appoint Compliance Officers for Legal Practice (COLPs). COLPs are charged with taking reasonable steps to ensure that firms comply with their obligations, which entails interpreting what…