Client & matter management

View Practice Compliance by content type:

Practice notes

Precedents

Q&As

Featured Practice Compliance content

Facilitation payments under the Bribery Act 2010

Facilitating the performance of a duty by public officialsFacilitation payments, also known as facilitating or grease payments, are generally small...

What is a solicitor's undertaking?

An undertaking is a commitment by a solicitor to do something. It can be enforced against the solicitor by the courts. Failure to comply with an...

Active bribery, passive bribery and bribing foreign public officials

The purpose of this Practice Note is to provide a general understanding of the offences under section 1, 2 and 6 of the Bribery Act 2010 (BA 2010). It...

High-risk third countries tracker

This Practice Note lists high-risk third countries identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), HM Treasury and the European Commission as...

Precedents

Modern slavery: contract clauses

1DefinitionsModern Slavery Policy•means the Customer's anti-slavery and human trafficking policy as set out in Schedule [insert] as updated by the...

9th Nov

In-house

Practice notes

AML and counter-terrorist financing—source of funds

Source of funds and wealth was a key focus of the SRA’s Preventing Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism thematic review, published in March...

9th Nov

In-house

Practice notes

Introduction to retained EU law

This Practice Note provides an introduction to retained EU law, which is an entirely new legal concept introduced to UK domestic law in preparation...

9th Nov

Brexit

Precedents

Standard contractual clauses—set II—controller to controller (Model Clauses)

DRAFTING FOR BREXIT: For the latest information on the impact of Brexit on the drafting, negotiation and enforceability of this Precedent, see...

9th Nov

Precedents

Anti-bribery and corruption for law firms—post-training assessment questions

How to use this testThese questions are designed to test your understanding after your attendance at our training on avoiding bribery and...

9th Nov

Practice notes

Compliance officer for legal practice—COLP—title and duties 2011 [Archived]

The compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) sits at the heart of the firm's regulatory arrangements. This does not mean that the firm and its...

9th Nov

Most recent Client & matter management content

Precedents

Records retention schedule

IntroductionThis Record retention schedule accompanies and is incorporated into [insert organisation’s name]’s Record management policy. It sets out...

19th Nov

Precedents

CDD client risk assessment form—law firms

Instructions for completionWhen do you have to complete this form?You must complete this form for all new clients[ who are subject to the anti-money...

12th Nov

Q&As

Do I have to return original correspondence to a third party from a matter I am no longer instructed on where that person has requested access to it under the General Data Protection Regulation?

Correspondence sent by third parties to a firm in the course of a matter generally belongs to the client, and copies of that correspondence made by...

10th Nov

Precedents

Records management policy

1Introduction1.1Maintaining business records in a systematic and reliable manner is essential to comply with our legal and regulatory requirements, eg...

10th Nov

Q&As

Who owns the matter file?

Matter files typically contain a range of papers, including electronic information which can be held electronically and/or printed in a physical...

23rd Oct

Practice notes

Client care—SRA 2011 regime and SRA 2019 regime compared

This Practice Note contrasts the requirements in the SRA’s 2011 and 2019 regimes as well as wider requirements in relation to client care. There is a...

22nd Oct

Practice notes

Client care 2019—law firms

This Practice Note reflects requirements in the SRA 2019 regime, effective from 25 November 2019. See Practice Note: Client care—SRA 2011 regime and...

22nd Oct

Precedents

New matter form

Instructions for completionPlease submit the completed form to [state who] and retain a copy for the matter file. Where you are opening a new matter...

19th Oct

Precedents

Conflicts of interest—email to staff and fee earners

Subject: New client—conflicts searchPlease email me immediately if you know of any reason why we cannot act for [...

19th Oct

Practice notes

Matter inception 2019—law firms

Client and matter inception is an important exercise in protecting your firm, getting to know your client and what they need from you, and complying...

19th Oct

Precedents

CDD matter risk assessment form—law firms

Instructions for completionWhen do you have to complete this form?You must complete this form for all new matters[ that are subject to the anti-money...

14th Oct

Practice notes

Duties of confidentiality and disclosure 2019

The protection of confidential information is a fundamental feature of the solicitor-client relationship and a core professional principle. Solicitors...

12th Oct

Precedents

New client form

Instructions for completionWhere you are opening a new matter for a new client, you should complete this form together with a new matter form. Please...

9th Oct

Practice notes

Client and matter inception [Archived]

Client and matter inception is an important exercise in protecting your firm, getting to know your client and what they need from you, and complying...

9th Oct

Q&As

Why does the Precedent: CDD matter risk assessment form—law firms include low risk factors that appear to relate to financial services?

Section 5.1 of Precedent: CDD matter risk assessment form—law firms contains a list of potential factors that may indicate that simplified due...

28th Sep

Q&As

Is it necessary to keep both electronic copies and paper copies of emails and documents in a client matter?

You are required to retain matter files (paper or electronic) for a period of time after the conclusion of the matters. The length of time a file...

28th Sep

Q&As

Are file reviews important?

File reviews show that an organisation takes quality and compliance seriously.File reviews and audits provide meaningful statistics, and if things...

28th Sep

Q&As

Is there a standard form of wording that could be used for signature by clients who wish to instruct us to proceed with a particular course of action contrary to our advice, or acknowledging that it might not achieve the outcome they seek?

We do not have a standard form of wording of this kind on Lexis®PSL. These sorts of situations tend to be highly fact specific, and the advice given...

28th Sep

Q&As

Is a client entitled to see a copy of their client account ledger and/or and any payments made from office account?

From an accounts rules perspective, the Solicitors Regulation Authority is silent on this specific point, but the Law Society considers accounting...

Produced in partnership with Sarah Charlton of ILFM 28th Sep

Q&As

Are there any rules or guidance about the handling of cheques that come in the post?

The overarching objective of the SRA Accounts Rules 2019 is to keep client money safe.Client money must be:•paid into a client account promptly•held...

28th Sep