Will the information I give you be treated in strict confidence?
Yes. It is important that organisations can be advised in complete confidence about the risk and compliance issues they face, so our consultancy service is a confidential one.
This means that we will keep confidential to the organisations which use our service:
- all advice and recommendations we give to them; and
- all information about their business and affairs which comes to us in the course of providing the service to them.
In particular, this means that we will not report any defaults we find to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or to other enforcement authorities or bodies. If there is a need for organisations to make reports, we will normally advise on that need, but compliance is a matter for the organisations themselves.
Our obligation of confidentiality is subject to two necessary exceptions. The first is that if the law imposes on us an obligation to make disclosure, we must do so. Examples of such obligations imposed by law will include court disclosure orders and money-laundering reporting obligations arising under Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2007. There are others.
Secondly, we reserve the right to make a report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority or to an appropriate enforcement authority or body if we come across evidence that an organisation is engaging in ongoing criminal conduct. If criminal offences are being committed, it is only right that we have the option of doing this.
May I delegate my Risk and Compliance reporting duties to Law Society Consulting?
No. In delivering our services to you we may make recommendations that your organisation, or specific officers within it, have matters which need to be reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. As you will be aware, reporting obligations can arise under various SRA provisions including Chapter 10 of the SRA Code of Conduct 2011 and Rule 8.5 of the SRA Authorisation Rules 2011.
We must emphasise that these reporting obligations rest with your organisation and its officers. They are not part of the duties that we will assume for you in providing you with consultancy services and advising you on and making recommendations to you about risk and compliance issues within your organisation. Specifically, the fact that we in Law Society Consulting may be aware of matters which are reportable by your organisation, or its officers, to the Solicitors Regulation Authority does not constitute a discharge by you of your reporting obligation to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Can I be sure I will receive best advice from Law Society Consulting?
Yes. Law Society Consulting employs only experienced specialists with the necessary technical knowledge and consulting skills, which we test thoroughly. In addition, we provide a comprehensive programme of initial and ongoing training to all of our consultants to ensure they are equipped to provide you with the high quality of service you require. We also monitor our consultants' performance continually as part of a rigorous quality assurance process. This process covers both the management of our engagement with clients and the delivery of our services, including our reports and recommendations. We follow a three-step report production and fulfilment quality assurance process to ensure the highest levels of accuracy and production standards. This confirms technical accuracy, report integrity and formal sign off by the lead consultant.
If you have further questions or queries please contact us.