The London Property Support Lawyers Group has updated the Solicitor's Completion Requirements (SCR). A new enquiry 5 has been added to deal with electronic or Mercury execution. If electronic signatures are to be used, enquiry 5.2 requires the seller to confirm that they will comply with the requirements of HM Land Registry Practice Guide 8 and give a conveyancer’s certificate in the form set out in appendix 3 to that Practice Guide.

Name of firm [Insert firm name] Name of role holder [Insert name] Reports to [Insert details of who the role holder will report to] Role type (full-time/part-time/contractor) [Insert] If a contractor role, length of contract [Insert] Primary location [Insert the primary location for this role—if there is a requirement for the role holder to regularly spend time in multiple locations, eg in each regional office, it is worth making sure this is made clear] Remote/hybrid/office-based? [Insert type of work model] Date role commenced [Insert date] Length of probation period [Insert] End of probation

PI & Clinical Negligence analysis: This case concerned proceedings brought by 224 claimants, seeking assessment of costs deducted from their personal injury settlements under Conditional Fee Agreements (‘CFAs’). Senior Costs Judge Rowley, sitting in the Senior Courts Costs Office, addressed a number of preliminary issues in the dispute. Within those, the court considered the enforceability of the relevant CFAs and the obligations of solicitors to ensure clients are adequately informed. Senior Costs Judge Rowley’s decision serves as a helpful and timely reminder of the standards practitioners must meet when explaining CFA terms to clients, including the relevance of whether clients have read the agreement. Those questions were addressed with respect to a number of relevant pieces of legislation, including the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges Regulations 2013, reg 14 and section 62 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015). This decision also serves as guidance on other pertinent issues, such as the proper approach to determining the reasonableness of success fees, and the degree of precision required within agreements to escape section 74(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974 (SA 1974), which limits solicitor-client costs to the amount recoverable in litigation. Written by Connor Wright, barrister, St Philips Chambers.

The Solicitors Act 1974 (SA 1974) gives the Law Society general powers to regulate the conduct of solicitors and to make rules governing all aspects of practice.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. It regulates: • individual solicitors, registered European lawyers (RELs), registered foreign lawyers (RFLs), registered Swiss lawyers (RSLs) and non-lawyer employees, owners and managers of regulated law firms • law firms, eg sole practices, partnerships, LLPs and companies providing legal advice and services as: ◦ a solicitor practice (ie a firm owned and managed by solicitors), or ◦ an alternative business structure (ABS) (eg a firm with non-lawyer owners or managers, including multi-disciplinary practices) The SRA does not represent the solicitors’ profession, which is the function of the Law Society. Its purpose is to ensure that consumers receive proper standards of service and that the rule of law is upheld. This Practice Note explains the SRA’s structure, role and powers. Structure The SRA’s work is overseen by the SRA board, which comprises both solicitor and lay members, with the majority being non-lawyers. The board is assisted by three committees covering: • audit and risk • nominations • remuneration The SRA is

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) was set up by the Law Society to be its regulatory body after the Legal Services Act 2007 required the separation of all regulatory and representative activities relating to the legal professions.

Case study How should the claimant solicitors respond? Under the subject access requests (SAR), the individual director is seeking: • (a) a copy of any information the solicitors hold about the director • (b) whether the individual director’s personal data is being processed • (c) the reason for the individual director’s personal data being processed and who it will be shared with • (d) a copy of all of the individual director’s personal data • (e) details of the source of the personal data of that individual director How should the claimant solicitors respond in the circumstances where they do hold the individual director’s email address, which is a company address, but the purpose of the processing

Rules created by the Law Society to regulate solicitors undertaking financial services under the Financial Services Act 1986

The 'solicitors' client and trust accounts' refers to such accounts which are made in compliance with certain rules set out by the Council of the Law Society with the concurrence of the Master of the Rolls.

Dispute Resolution analysis: The Companies Court has considered the jurisdiction of the inference of the warranty given by solicitors acting in litigation that they have their client’s authority so to act, with reference to the leading authority in Jonge. One aspect of the rationale for the rule being the exposure to unrecoverable costs where a party is litigating in circumstances where there is no person or entity behind the unauthorised solicitors against whom to recover costs if awarded. The judge considered the possible defences to such a claim. He concluded that a claimant cannot recover damages for breach of warranty of authority where this would provide a better outcome for the claimant than had the warranty not been breached, ostensible authority may provide a defence if and to the extent that it puts the claimant into the same position as he would have enjoyed if there had been actual authority, and, in similar vein, section 161 of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) may also provide a defence.

Dispute Resolution analysis: Mr Justice Fancourt, Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster, sitting in the Business and Property Courts in Leeds, held that Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP (RPC) owed a duty of care to its client, Deborah Forster (‘the Claimant’). Specifically, it had a duty to keep her informed of the ‘staggeringly high level of costs’ that were accruing throughout the retainer, with the commensurate risk of a shortfall in costs recovery that would erode any judgment she obtained. By the time the case settled, the costs had reached £5m. The Claimant had agreed to pay these costs under the terms of a conditional fee agreement (CFA), however, she argued that RPC had been negligent in failing to keep her informed of the costs of litigation, and in failing to advise her on the risks of incurring high costs. This case is significant for practitioners in the field of commercial litigation, as it clarifies the duties that solicitors owe to their clients under a CFA. The court’s decision in this case makes it clear that solicitors must keep their clients informed of the costs of litigation, and that they must advise their clients on the risks of incurring high costs, even if the client has agreed to pay those costs on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis. As a separate point, the case highlights the importance of choosing the right expert in commercial litigation. The court’s decision in this case suggests that solicitors should advise their clients to use experts who are likely to be cost-effective, in addition to providing reliable and accurate evidence. Written by Andrew Crisp, associate at Clarion Solicitors.

This Agreement is made on [insert date] Parties 1 [insert name of Manager] a company incorporated in [England and Wales] under the number [insert company number] and whose registered office is at [insert address] (Manager); and 2 [insert name of Artist] of [insert address] (Artist). The parties agree: 1 Definitions and interpretation 1.1 In this Agreement: Artist’s Advances • means all loans and other advances made to the Artist by the Manager [or by any Associate of the Manager], together with any other expenditure of the Manager including, without limitation: agency fees and commissions; interest; expenses relating to travelling, accommodation, transport, purchase or hire of equipment; all sums, expenses and fees relating to engagement of tour managers, road managers, personal assistants and publicity consultants; all expenditure on advertising and publicity of all descriptions, including public relations and entertaining; and, all expenditure on legal and accountancy advice and/or services; Associate • means any person, firm or company which is connected (as defined in the Income Tax Act 2007, section 993) to the relevant party; Commission • means [insert number eg 20]% of Gross Income; Employer