Supervision & file reviews

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Effective supervision is a regulatory requirement for law firms, as well as being good practice. It can help manage the risk of negligence, as well as other regulatory risks. File reviews are an effective supervision tool, but they are unlikely to be a complete answer to supervision.

Supervision

The SRA's core regulatory requirements in relation to supervision are found in the two Codes of Conduct (the SRA Code for Solicitors and the SRA Code for Firms), which should be read in the context of the SRA Principles. Requirements can also be found in the SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules, SRA Education, Training and Assessment Provider Relations, SRA Transparency Rules, and SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations.

Cumulatively, SRA and other regulatory requirements in relation to supervision cover the following themes:

  1. •

    management control

  2. •

    service and competence

  3. •

    information requirements

  4. •

    additional Lexcel requirements

  5. •

    education and training, and

  6. •

    supervision of registered foreign lawyers (RFLs)

  7. •

    file reviews

  8. •

    supervision of specific activities

See further Practice Note: Supervision—law firms which includes information on the characteristics of good supervision and examples of good practice, and Supervision—checklist—law firms.

Management

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