Solicitors Regulation Authority Research Articles

Multiple-choice questionnaire assessments: do they have a role in assessing law students?

ABSTRACT In the UK there has been a resistance to using multiple-choice questionnaire (MCQ) assessments to assess undergraduate students. This resistance is based on traditional legal pedagogy and the needs of the legal profession. However, the use of MCQ-style assessments by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and other shifts in legal education make it necessary to reflect on the role that MCQs could play in assessing law students. This article seeks to contribute to this discussion by providing a pedagogical analysis of the assessment strategy of the “Public Law I – Sources of Power” module at the University of Dundee. First, the article sets out Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and its applicability to legal education. The article then applies this taxonomy to identify the complexity of the module’s learning outcomes and its assessments, as well as considering the extent to which they align with each other. The article finds that while MCQs cannot contribute to all of a module’s learning outcomes, they do provide some pedagogical value in assessing law students, particularly when implemented in parallel with other assessment methods. The article concludes by reflecting on the broader position of MCQs and their role in assessing undergraduate students.

Solicitors’ rights of audience, competence and regulation: a responsibility rights approach

AbstractThis paper takes as its context the decision of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales to abandon before the event regulation of lower court trial advocacy. Although solicitors will continue to acquire rights of audience on qualification, they will no longer be required to undertake training or assessment in witness examination, by contrast with other, competing, legal professions. Their opportunities to acquire competence outside the classroom will remain limited. The paper first explores this context and its implications for the three key factors of rights to perform, competence and regulatory accountability. The current regulatory system is then displayed as a Hohfeldian network of rights and duties held in tension between stakeholders intended to inhibit the incompetent exercise of rights to conduct trial advocacy. The SRA's proposal weakens this tension field and threatens the competitive position of solicitors. The paper therefore finally offers a radical alternative reconceptualisation of rights of audience in terms of Waldron's ‘responsibility rights’ as a solution, albeit one with significant implications for the individual advocate. This model, applicable globally, is closer to notions of societal good and professionalism than to those of the competitive market, whilst inhibiting incompetent performance and remediating the SRA's approach.

Sample Handbook for Street Law Clinic

The following handbook was designed for the United Nations Development Programme Access to Justice Initiative, Afghanistan, 2017. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of the author, Dr Richard Grimes, as a potential resource for others who are encouraged to adopt or adapt it to meet their own needs. Please note that this handbook includes references to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Code of Conduct (applicable in England and Wales) which applied at the time this handbook was developed. Adaptations would be required to take account of the current, updated conduct rules. In jurisdictions other than England and Wales those using this handbook should include reference to any relevant and applicable code of conduct or regulations.

The Standard of Proof in Disciplinary Proceedings: Solicitors Regulation Authority v Sharif (2019)

The January 2019 ruling of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in Solicitors Regulation Authority v Sharif1 highlighted the care that legal practitioners must take in order to satisfy their anti-money laundering obligations and the serious consequences of any failure to do so. This is the subject of a separate note in this issueof the Denning Law Journal.2 However, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal applied the criminal standard of proof in the case. The question as to whether this is now the appropriate approach is the subject of this note.

Legal Practitioners as Potential Money Launderers: Beneficial Ownership Transparency and PEPs: Solicitors Regulation Authority v Sharif (2019)

Legal practitioners enjoy a high degree of credibility and trust. With this comes vulnerability. For example, a solicitor’s trust account may be used by criminals through which to launder their proceeds of crime.1 The need to maintain public confidence in the profession remains of paramount importance and it follows that substantial reputational harm can occur where there is a risk that legal practitioners are being used (wittingly or otherwise) to facilitate money laundering.

Non-law graduates: an uncommon route to qualification?

ABSTRACT This article considers the future of the conversion course (Common Professional Examination/Graduate Diploma in Law) taken by non-law graduates (NLGs) seeking to qualify as solicitors and barristers in England and Wales. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Bar Standards Board (BSB) are changing the paths to qualification, which for NLGs commences currently with this course. University law schools are particularly unsettled by (i) the impact of the SRA’s move to a centralised exam; (ii) the deregulation of courses including the conversion course; and (iii) the divergence in professional requirements. This article analyses the changes and the likely responses to them taking account of the factors which have influenced the development of the conversion course as it is today. These have been, and, it is argued, will increasingly be, market-influenced decisions to ensure a supply of “good” graduates. The analysis is juxtaposed with the agenda for diversity, this being a key driver of regulatory changes. It is argued that a free market of course providers points to new and varied courses, but there is no logic or factors on which it can be confidently suggested that the reforms will lead to greater diversity in the profession.

The value of a law degree

ABSTRACT Rising costs, vast increases in the proportion of young adults progressing to higher education and the introduction of alternative pathways to professional qualifications have in recent decades prompted some to argue that the “value” of an undergraduate law degree is diminished. Increasingly students, politicians, and society more widely appear to assess such value on an overly economic basis, focusing almost exclusively on employability and neglecting the wider and longer-term benefits for individuals, as well as for local and global communities. As the Solicitors Regulation Authority prepares to launch its new Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), there is a risk that law schools may inadvertently erode existing value by placing too great an emphasis on preparing students for those centralised assessments and/or in how they respond to other market pressures. This paper draws on marketing theory to evaluate more holistically the potential value of a law degree, specifically in a post-SQE era. It is submitted that constructing resonating value propositions in relation to the wider and/or unique benefits of their programmes may help law schools to preserve, enhance and articulate value, thereby challenging the broader political rhetoric before it is too late. To this end, a new conceptual model is proposed.

One lawyer acting for two clients: implications arising from an experimental practice model ‘Family Matters’

ABSTRACTThe legal services market has faced unprecedented change following implementation of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO). Alternative business models and wider use of digital technologies have developed alongside debates about the future of legal practice in family law. Arguments have been made for new hybrid models that combine legal advice with mediation and for solicitors to be enabled to work with two clients. This paper contributes to that debate by highlighting implications for such practice innovations based on research evidence of solicitors’ experiences of delivering an experimental model of practice: ‘Family Matters Guides’. This model, piloted by Resolution, involved the Guides providing intensive support and legal information (not legal advice) to both separating parents to help them reach agreements. This paper is timely as the professions await the new regulations from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (autumn 2018) making flexible practice models a reality.

Lawyer disciplinary processes: an empirical study of solicitors’ misconduct cases in England and Wales in 2015

AbstractThe Legal Services Act 2007 effected major changes in the disciplinary system for solicitors in England and Wales. Both the practice regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and a disciplinary body, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, were reconstituted as independent bodies and given new powers. Our concern is the impact of the Act on the disciplinary system for solicitors. Examination of this issue involves consideration of changes to regulatory institutions and the mechanics of practice regulation. Drawing on Foucault's notion of governmentality, empirical evidence drawn from disciplinary cases handled by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2015 is used to explore potentially different conceptions of discipline informing the work of the regulatory institutions. The conclusion considers the implications of our findings for the future of the professional disciplinary system.

New challenges in the UK Legal Education landscape: TEF, SQE and the Law Teacher

A recent series of changes in Higher Education in general, and legal education, in particular, are altering the environment in which law teachers in the UK are used to work. This paper will mention two particular initiatives: on the one hand, the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) a Government and market focussed scheme to drive up the standard of teaching and to provide information to students about the best provision of teaching. On the other hand, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) new proposed Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE). The SQE is also entangled in market forces, employability and consumer choices, it pretends to end with the inconsistencies in law degrees and trainings offered at the moment; and to help social mobility in the profession. Both initiatives have been received with opposition by many parties that contend their reasons and data are flawed. In any case, both initiatives are affecting law teachers that as a consequence have lately being faced with new demands by students, employers and university managers. We conclude with the assertion that nowadays in the UK many law teachers are confronted with many pressures, numerous unanswered questions and no space to voice their concerns on a rapidly changing legal education landscape.

Clinical legal education as qualifying work experience for solicitors

ABSTRACTThe Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is proposing radical changes to solicitor education and training. The Solicitors Qualification Examination (SQE) has been extensively debated, but less attention has been paid to the proposed changes relating to qualifying work experience (QWE). In future, a much broader range of work experience, including that gained through clinical legal education, will potentially be able to count as QWE. This article addresses the key questions arising from the proposals, as yet unchartered in any depth in journals and scholarly writing. The background and detail of the SRA’s plans are analysed, before consideration is given to the arguments both for and against clinical legal education counting as QWE. The practical challenges are then deconstructed. Who will be able to supervise and sign off clinical legal education as QWE? What type of clinical legal education could count? How much time should students be credited for? What policies will law schools need to put in place? Practical advice is offered based on the authors’ experience and knowledge. The discussion is intended to stimulate further debate and the development of consensus on best practice.

Affective or defective? Exploring the LETR’s characterisation of affect and its translation into practice

ABSTRACTThe Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) identified the affective dimension as being a critical component of legal practice. This article will review how this dimension was conceptualised within this 2013 report (the Report), to what extent it has since been acknowledged and incorporated by key stakeholders in the legal profession and whether this has resulted in any significant changes in the way the legal profession approaches its work. The article will suggest that the LETR’s characterisation of affect required further development to provide clear guidance on its translation into legal competencies. It will also suggest that the resulting competency frameworks produced by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Bar Standards Board and others include little (if any) explicit engagement with affect. Overall, there remains a lack of engagement with the affective dimension of practice. This has resulted in the legal profession’s relatively uncritical acceptance of a few key buzzwords (such as the term “emotional intelligence”) whilst the full implications of incorporating affect in legal practice remain largely unexplored. This article will argue that a more coherent and critically informed approach is required to ensure that an important dimension of legal practice obtains the recognition, exploration and reflection which it deserves.

Privileges and penalties in the legal profession: an intersectional analysis of career progression.

Intersectionality theory is concerned with integrating social characteristics to better understanding complex human relations and inequalities in organizations and societies (McCall 2005). Recently, intersectionality research has taken a categorical and quantitative turn as scholars critically adopt but retain existing social categories to explain differences in labour market outcomes. A key contention is that social categories carry penalties or privileges and their intersection promotes or hinders the life chances of particular groups and individuals. An emergent debate is whether the intersection of disadvantaged characteristics (such as female gender or minority ethnic status) produce penalties that are additive, multiplicative or ameliorative. Research is inconclusive and as yet pays little attention to moderating factors such as employer type, size, geographic location or work profile. Drawing on administrative records for individuals qualified as solicitors in England and Wales, collected by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), combined with aggregated workforce data and firm characteristics of their law firms, we undertake a statistical analysis of the intersection of gender and ethnicity in the profession with a degree of precision and nuance not previously possible. In response to calls to broaden studies of inequalities and intersectionality beyond their effect on pay or income (Castilla 2008) we focus on career progression to partnership as our key measure of success. The original contribution of our study is twofold. First, we establish statistically different profiles of law firms, showing how the solicitors' profession is stratified by gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background, as well as the type of legal work undertaken by developing a model of socio-economic stratification in the profession. Second, we demonstrate that while penalties tend to be additive (i.e. the sum of the individual ethnic and gender penalties) this varies significantly by law firm profile and in some situations the effect is ameliorative.

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 outcomes‐focused regulation (OFR) requires of the firm. Yet despite their importance, little is known about how compliance roles operate within legal service firms. We addressed this gap through a series of qualitative interviews that explored COLPs’ views of their roles, their attitudes to regulation, in particular to OFR, and to achieving compliance. We found that COLPs are a key regulatory mechanism in the context of firm‐based regulation and OFR and have a critical role to play in protecting and promoting professional values in both ABS and non‐ABS entities.

Changes to the training of English and Welsh lawyers: implications for the future of university law schools

ABSTRACTThe focus of this article is upon the plans by the Bar Standards Board and, in particular, the Solicitors Regulation Authority to remodel the education and training processes for barristers and solicitors. Introducing the most radical changes to legal education in recent decades, the proposals present Anglo-Welsh law schools with dilemmas in terms of their future educational models, student recruitment and issues of equal opportunities and accessibility. However, opportunities are also present, should some law schools wish to utilise the momentum for change to move away from constraints necessitated by following an, in part, professionally determined syllabus. Research Excellence Framework, professorial expertise and doctoral degree data are used to demonstrate that some law schools have moved away from focusing on areas most relevant to professional practice, but have retained a dependence on qualifying law degree status to recruit students in comparatively large numbers.

Clinical Legal Education Conference: Quality & Supervision

This conference principally explores the aims of supervision and the role of the supervisor in University Law Clinics.Jonny Hall, Associate Dean for Learning & Teaching, Northumbria Law School, will give a keynote speech on the qualities and responsibilities.We have invited student law clinic volunteers from Manchester, Huddersfield, Strathclyde and LSBU to give 10 minute presentations on their personal reasons for working in a law clinic.In the main panel discussion, chaired by Professor Elaine Hall, Professor of Legal Education Research, Northumbria Law School, representatives from University Law Clinics at Strathclyde, Kent, Northumbria, London South Bank and the Norwegian, student-led Jussbuss will lead a discussion on how much supervision of law clinic student volunteers is required, by who and for what purpose(s). The perspective of clients, students, supervisors and host institutions will be considered.The final session, led by Andy Unger, Associate Professor and Head of the Law Division, LSBU School of Law & Social Sciences, will discuss the threats and opportunities facing university law clinics in the light of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s training for tomorrow consultation proposals.

Legal education and proposed regulation of the legal profession in England and Wales: a transformation or a tragedy?

Legal education in England and Wales is under review as a direct result of the Solicitors Regulation Authority proposals (SRA). The SRA are implementing a number of radical changes which will have a direct effect on legal education and how educational provision will be delivered in the near future in England and Wales. The SRA have put forward a number of proposals which will introduce the solicitor apprenticeship model. This has far reaching implications for Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) who currently adopt a business model which accommodates the delivery of educational provision for those students who wish to study law and qualify as a solicitor. These changes are likely to remove or diminish the current pathways available to study and qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales. The replacement offered by the SRA is the apprenticeship model which has sent shock waves throughout higher educational institutions. The SRA believe these changes will provide a framework that is flexible and is not reliant on a sequence of exams and prescriptive stages to qualify as a solicitor, such as the academic stage (LLB), the Legal Practice Course (LPC) which is compounded by increased tuition fees and the completion of a two year training contract. The SRA’s major criticisms of the current system is how the LPC assesses specified standards during specific intervals. They believe the current standards are not universally applied and there is a lack of transparency and consistency across the higher education sector. In response to these concerns the SRA have produced a new model which they refer to as the ‘trailblazer,’ otherwise known as the apprenticeship model.

Changing regulation and the future of the professional partnership: the case of the Legal Services Act, 2007 in England and Wales

ABSTRACTThe UK Legal Services Act 2007 permits external financing and unlimited non-lawyer ownership of legal practices through the formation of Alternative Business Structures (ABSs). For many, the impact of this changed regulation on the ‘professional partnership’, as the dominant organisational form through which legal services are delivered, will be considerable. However, to date few studies have explored this empirically. This paper addresses this gap by examining organisational changes within ABSs to assess how far these firms have departed from the professional partnership model. Focusing upon the ABS population licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority between January 2012 and August 2015, the study findings show a continuum of organisational responses against four specified indicators: incorporation; multi-disciplinary practices; non-lawyer ownership; and external investment. These range from those that depart little from traditional practices to those that are more radical. We conclude that, whilst regulatory reform has yet to dislodge the dominance of the professional partnership, it has disturbed the status quo and increased the variety of ‘economic units’ within which legal services are delivered.

THE PROTEAN PRINCIPLE OF PROPORTIONALITY: HOW DIFFERENT IS PROPORTIONALITY IN EU CONTEXTS?

THE Legal Services Board, tasked with the supervision of approved regulators of persons carrying on legal activities, granted an application (by the Bar Standards Board, Solicitors Regulation Authority, and ILEX Professional Standards Board) for approval of alterations to their regulatory arrangements to give effect to the so-called Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates (“the decision”). The Scheme provides for judicial assessment of criminal advocates in England and Wales: only those deemed “competent” would gain full accreditation for upper levels of criminal work. Judicial review had been sought, unsuccessfully in the courts below, by barristers practising criminal law. The question in R. (on the application of Lumsdon and others) v Legal Services Board [2015] UKSC 41; [2015] 3 W.L.R. 121 was whether the decision was contrary to Regulation 14 of the Provision of Service Regulations 2009 (SI 2999/2009), which implemented Directive 2006/123/EC (O.J. No. L 376, p. 36). Regulation 14 requires that any authorisation scheme cannot be set unless, inter alia, the need for such a scheme is “justified by an overriding reason relating to the public interest” and the scheme's objective “cannot be attained by means of a less restrictive measure” (see Regulation 14(2)).

The Solicitors Regulation Authority: looking to the future

ABSTRACTThe legal market is changing. Whether individual consumer or corporate client, the choice of services available to help manage or solve legal problems appears increasingly wide. Business process outsourcing, technology and data companies, accountants and other professional advisors are offering corporate clients new options to manage their legal affairs. Law firms are responding to this increasing competitive pressure with new services of their own. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), as the largest legal regulator in the UK, is liberalising its approach to regulation, removing prescriptions and inflexibilities, so that business and solicitors can compete and thrive in this changing market. The proposals will introduce greater flexibility for individual solicitors (including those currently described as in-house) to offer services to the public (including corporate clients) from businesses outside of legal regulation. A simpler and shorter Code of Conduct, focused separately on individual solicitors and firms that the SRA authorises, will increase flexibility and establish clear and high standards. The SRA expects that the increasing focus on proportionate and targeted regulation will support increased economic growth and thereby access to justice.