If you are involved in managing compliance with this service is for you.
Recent changes to the legal regulatory landscape mean that increasingly senior-level partners, law firm managers and risk professionals will be under intense scrutiny. They are expected to take a lead role in creating an effective risk-aware culture and have greater responsibility for embedding core risk management systems, policies, and procedures within their firms.
Key individuals who will find the service beneficial include:
- Compliance officers for legal practice (COLPs)
- Compliance officers for finance and administration (COFAs)
- Risk partners and managers
- Compliance partners and managers
- Risk and compliance managers
- Client care partners and managers
- Complaints handling partners and managers
- Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs)
- Managing partners
- Practice heads
- Heads of marketing and business development
- Heads of operations
- Heads of information security
- In-house legal counsel, particularly senior or heads of legal departments
Membership is open to both firms and individuals.
Why should I join?
Managing risk and regulatory compliance is already a critical issue for all legal practices, but the Legal Services Act 2007 created a radically new and challenging landscape that is still evolving. Firms are facing a range of new pressures with even greater impetus to develop a more robust and coordinated approach to legal and statutory compliance.These include:
The establishment of the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) – this has significantly changed the way firms need to respond to complaints and may expose firms to the risk of fines and financial penalties if appropriate adjustments are not made. The new oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board (LSB), putting client care and complaints avoidance at the top of its agenda – this aims to ensure that firms embed cultures, systems and quality assurance to give consumers confidence in legal services. The introduction of outcomes-focused regulation and the 2011 SRA Code of Conduct – firms have greater freedom to deliver business in ways that suit their organisation but you will need to demonstrate that you have effective risk-management systems and controls in place in order to take advantage of more flexible forms of regulation.The growing need to assure professional indemnity insurers of effective compliance – the cheapest insurance premiums are increasingly only guaranteed to those firms that can demonstrate they have taken active and meaningful steps to build and maintain effective risk and compliance strategies across their business.No firm can afford not to comply with the new rules and governance requirements, nor can you discount the potentially significant damage that could be done to your firm and your clients if you fail to mitigate risk.
How will the service support me?
Our service will provide information, tools and support to help you demonstrate to the SRA, the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) and other key stakeholders that your firm is focussed on the following core areas:
- Risk management
- Quality assurance
- The exercise of sound professional principles
- Improving client care and complaints handling
- Supervision
Membership of the service will help you plan ahead, so that your firm is ready to respond proactively to the demands and uncertainties of operating within a fast evolving regulatory framework.
How do I join?
Membership is open to firms and individuals. See our joining page for details.