Under the SRA’s New Approach to Continuing Competence, solicitors are required to reflect on the SRA’s Competence Statement, identify knowledge gaps and undertake learning to bridge those gaps.

All of VinciWorks’ courses correspond to competencies in the Competence Statement and can be used to bridge learning gaps. The guide below is a complete mapping of our courses with the Competence Statement.

Download the guide

VinciWorks has concluded the largest poll ever conducted on attitudes towards the SRA’s new approach to continuing competency. The poll illuminates many industry trends and provides a better understanding of best practice. We emailed about 5,000 firms and heard from 206 of varying sizes, from sole practitioners to magic circle firms. Here are the results.

Challenges to adoption

Any new regulation is fraught with uncertainty. Constant communication, and a clear justification for change are key parts of any transition. The SRA has considerable experience on this front through its work on outcomes-focussed regulation. However, CPD is a tricky one. Solicitors are used to just recording CPD, and an hours-based approach to learning makes sense to people that bill by the hour.

Challenges to adoption

Early signs indicate that the SRA’s competence toolkit has been a useful tool in communicating the changes. However there are still challenges ahead. It seems that compliance officers and L&D managers are well educated on the changes, but that information has not trickled down to solicitors. “Confusion amongst solicitors as to the requirements” is the primary challenge identified in the survey. In other words, many solicitors simply do not understand what the requirements are when CPD ends. Firms must act to educate all solicitors, not just the learning and compliance departments.

The second greates challenge to adoption is solicitors not doing any hours at all under continuing competence. The fear is that solicitors will try to game the system and claim that they are compliant without undertaking any learning.

Creating a learning plan

The new requirement is that solicitors must be thoughtful and deliberate about their learning. CPD must have a plan. We asked firms how they believe solicitors will created these learning plans.

learning-firms

According to this poll, most solicitors will create a plan with the aid of a line manager or learning specialist. This ensures that learning is tied in tightly with performance.

These findings are in line with the SRA’s internal research. In that research the SRA discovered that many firms already have systems in place for learning reviews and performance reviews. These types of activities are exactly what the SRA expects will be a fundamental part of continuing competence. Therefore for many firms the internal procedures necessary for the new approach are, in fact, already in place.

New styles of learning

Under the new approach, any learning is valid if it meets an identified need. This opens the door to many non-conventional learning approaches. We asked firms how radical a position they will take on the idea that “any” activity could be learning.

Styles of learning

From speaking with early adopter firms, VinciWorks has identified this as an area that solicitors and their firms are likely to struggle with in the early years of competency. While officials at the SRA are keen to point out that watching YouTube or listening to podcasts are adequate forms of learning, the firms we have spoken to appear to be sticking with tradition for now. Classroom and online modular learning being the favoured forums.

Monitoring compliance

Under hours-based CPD monitoring was easy. Your employees either completed 16 hours, or they didn’t. With continuing competence, monitoring poses a challenge for firms. They will have to come up with innovate approaches to monitoring and measuring competence. We asked firms what approaches they will take to monitoring.

Monitor compliance

As demonstrated by the poll some firms are planning to continue requiring 16 hours, or 4 hours from approved providers as a means of monitoring compliance. However the SRA does not view this favourably. The SRA is aware of this approach and they have even heard of firms requiring 32 hours! Ultimately from the SRA’s perspective any number of hours is arbitrary. They will be regulating competence not a number of hours. Despite this fact, this might be a sensible way for a firm to measure competence on a macro level.

The VinciWorks Continuing Competence Module

Using the data from this survey, as well as interviews with firms and the SRA, VinciWorks has developed a full software solution for compliance with the SRA’s new approach to continuing competence. The module is free for individuals and includes optional monitoring tools for firms. Click here to learn more sign up for free

Over the past year, we have written a series of posts on the SRA’s new approach to CPD. We have consolidated the key points into the presentation below:

Download the presentation

Julie Brannan, Director of Education and Training at the SRA sums up the new approach as follows:

The new approach has competence at its heart. Individual solicitors and firms will be in the driving seat. They will need to think about what they should do to ensure that their work is up-to-date and competent. They will be able to choose how best to do this.

There will be more flexibility about how people learn. For example, it will no longer be necessary to learn in hour-long blocks. People who prefer to learn in bite-sized chunks, perhaps over their phone or tablet, on the go, will be able to do so. People who learn through reading and researching for a particular case will be able to have that recognised as part of their learning and development.

After a long wait, in October 2015 the SRA finally published the wording for the annual declaration required under its new approach to continuing competence:

“I have reflected on my practice and addressed any identified learning and development needs.”

Practising Certificate Renewal Exercise (PCRE)

The declaration is made on the Practising Certificate Renewal Exercise (PCRE) forms. Either individual solicitors, or entities who complete the PCRE in bulk, can make the declaration.

The SRA will monitor PCRE forms to identify those solicitors who have not confirmed that they have reflected on their practice and addressed learning and development needs. They will use this information, along with other information they hold or receive, to explore concerns that they may have with the competence or standard of service provided by a solicitor.

Solicitors who have chosen to move to the new approach this year will make their first declaration (for the 2014-2015 practice year) in October 2016. In October 2017, there will be no declaration required for 2015-2016 as the SRA shifts to align the declaration with the current PCRE year. In that year a declaration will be required by all solicitors for the new approach for the 2016-2017 year. Despite the fact that no declaration will be required for the 2015-2016 year, this does not remove the regulatory responsibility for all solicitors either to comply with the old approach by doing 16 hours of CPD or to adopt the new approach.

As a reminder, under the new approach, a solicitor must: Continue reading

Vinciworks, the leader in online compliance learning, has just released a free guide to the SRA Accounts Rules, which includes hot topics, key definitions and best practice. This guide will come in handy when you need to quickly reference topics such as “office money vs. client money” and “matter completion.” You will constantly be able to refresh yourself on the topics of:

  • Mission briefing
  • Critical terms
  • Whose money is it?
  • Client money checklist
  • Matter completion

With these quick refreshers, your firm will not have to worry as much about the SDT and SRAs fines or restrictions. Also, each page in the guide comes as an individual, print-ready poster.

Screen Shot 2015-07-07 at 11.00.06 AMDownload guide

 

On 26 June 2015, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) announced that it had completed its audit of anti-money laundering procedures at law firms. Early findings suggest that only a small proportion of firms require a follow-up visit.

Since September 2014, the SRA visited over 500 firms that it had identified as being at risk from money laundering attempts. It examined whether or not they had effective checks and balances in place to detect any suspicious activity, and that staff were aware of these systems and knew how to use them. This campaign was in line with the SRA’s 2014-2015 risk outlook, which identified money laundering as a key risk to the industry.

As part of this process, the SRA published a “warning note on appropriate anti money laundering processes,” “guidance on how to complete suspicious activity reports,” and a “warning notice emphasising that firms should not allow their client account to be used as a bank account.”

During this process, we heard from a number of clients who presented the SRA with AML training reports from the Learning Management System. The SRA was satisfied with the reports and the level of training all staff received from the new VinciWorks Anti-Money Laundering training.

However, it is important to note, that a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) audit is expected soon.

FATF identified 42 red flags for law firms in its 2013 report Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Vulnerabilities of Legal Professionals. These red flags focus on due diligence around clients, source of funds, choice of lawyer and the nature of the retainer. The previous FATF audit was in 2007.

Train your firm on the SRA Accounts Rules in 30 minutes

VinciWorks – the leader in online compliance learning – has just released a new, 30-minute interactive course to brush up on the SRA Accounts Rules.

The course provides an overview of the key definitions, explains the rules that impact day-to-day work, and tests understanding with real-life scenarios. It digests the rules into concise principles and clarifies how client and firm money should be handled. The course is designed for fee earners, support staff and anyone else involved in handling client money.

Why is this important for you?

According to Rule 6, Non-compliance by any member of staff will also lead to the principals and COFA being in breach of the rules. Serious breaches will be referred to the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal (“SDT”) whose findings are published. The SDT and the SRA have the power to impose fines or other restrictions on any member of staff (not just solicitors).

Click here for pricing and more information

Cybercrime issues affecting solicitor firms are increasing the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has revealed.

More and more reports are being received of firms either being contacted by con artists or falling victim to fraudulent activity, with potentially serious consequences for clients buying or selling property. The SRA is urging solicitors to step up their efforts to keep criminals out and protect client interests.

The majority of recent scams fall into two categories:

  • Firms receiving calls pretending to be banks to obtain sensitive information, such as account passwords
  • Emails between firms and clients being intercepted, leading to client funds being paid into fraudsters’ accounts

This is against a backdrop of continued instances of con artists pretending to be solicitors, using either fake names or stealing the identities of genuine firms.

Read more on SRA website

On Monday 9th February, the LSB finally approved the SRA’s new approach to CPD, announced 21st May 2014.

In a letter — sent to Paul Philip, Chief Executive of the SRA, and buried on the LSB website — LSB Chief Executive, Richard Moriarty writes:

Please find enclosed our final decision notice granting the SRA’s application for approval of changes to regulatory arrangements relating to continuous professional development (CPD) and other miscellaneous changes.

The changes have been approved in full. The LSB welcomes the move from a prescriptive regulatory arrangement for CPD, currently based on arbitrary hours, to a more outcomes focussed framework that places responsibility on firms and solicitors to manage their continuing competence. We recognise that this policy has been the subject of lengthy review, development and consultation by the SRA.

Whilst supporting the SRA’s overall aim, we are also mindful that the intended benefits will only be fully realised if the new arrangements are effectively implemented. We would like to make two observations in this respect.

First, we were pleased to see that the SRA will be putting in place active review and evaluation processes, including for the opt-in period. As the SRA has acknowledged, the change is a big cultural shift for the SRA’s regulated community. In addition, the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said that the effectiveness of the approach in delivering competent services will depend on the capability of the SRA’s monitoring and supervision framework. It is therefore essential the SRA is able to know how well the changes are working in practice and to address any emerging issues both at a macro level and at the level of individual solicitors and firms.

Second, we welcome that the SRA’s post-implementation review will look at cost impacts on solicitors and firms. While outcomes focused measures generally help to reduce unnecessary burdens for business, it is important that these changes are supported by clear and effective communication to minimise any indirect costs that might arise for the regulated community from any uncertainty and confusion.

What are the important changes to the regulations?

Regulation 3.1 of the SRA Training Regulations 2011 Part 3 – CPD Regulations shall be amended as follows:

You must:
(a) undertake 16 hours of CPD during each complete CPD year in legal practice or employment in England and Wales; or

(b) consider and undertake the learning and development you deem necessary to ensure your ongoing competence and that you are in a position to provide a proper standard of service to your clients.”

For these purposes, the SRA has also amended the guidance note to regulation 8 to define what constitutes CPD under the new scheme:

(a) structured training, coaching or mentoring sessions;

(b) live or recorded webinars;

(c) writing onlaw or practice, for example law books,journals, publications for clients, client ‘s own publications, newspapers and magazines, online or in print:

(d) structured work shadowing schemes with clear aims and objectives and requiring feedback or reflection on the activity;
(e) research which relates to legal topics or has relevance to the practice/organisation which results in some form of written document, precedent, memorandum, questionnaire/survey etc;

(f) study for or production of a dissertation counting towards a qualification recognised by us;

(g) watching DVDs,webcasts, podcasts, television broadcasts or videotapes and/or listening to audio podcasts,radio broadcasts or audio tapes produced by learning and development providers;
(h) work towards the Qualification Credit Framework (QCF) awards relating to assessment,verification and/or quality assurance of competence-based assessment models (such as, for example, National Vocational Qualifications);

(i) participating in the development of specialist areas of law and practice by attending meetings of specialist committees and/or working parties of relevant professional or other competent bodies charged with such work;

U) work towards the achievement of an National Vocational Qualifications in any business-related area and at any level;

(k) study towards professional qualifications .

These activities can be completed face-to-face or by distance learning, where appropriate.

Click here to review the full list of changes to the regulation.

What is the timeline?

The new framework will be fully introduce with an opt-in period that will commence 1 April 2015, whilst the full changes will only go into effect in 1 November 2016. During the opt-in period solicitors and firms can choose to continue with the current 16-hour scheme (without the 25% requirement), or use the new scheme. Solicitors will be required to make a declaration when renewing their Practising Certificates in October 2015 that they have either undertaken 16 hours of CPD or that they have opted in to the new arrangements and ensured that they are competent.

A Competence Statement for Solicitors (on which the SRA recently consulted) will act as guidance to solicitors for CPD purposes. It is the SRA’s intention to publish this
on 1April 2015 when the ‘opt-in’ phase commences. The SRA has stated that it does not expect many solicitors to take up the opt-in opportunity until the start of the CPD year from 1November 2015, when the Competence Statement will have been available for several months. The LSB consider it important that solicitors who choose to opt-in are provided with as much support and guidance as possible and have the Competence Statement available to them.

VinciWorks’ Competency Frameworks

VinciWorks has prepared for these changes by introducing a flexible framework in LMS Enterprise that accommodates the SRA’s new competency based approach to training. It allows firms to define competency goals for various individuals, based on their position, builds tailored curriculum and tracks compliance. It allows individuals to reflect on their learning and produce annual competency statements to the SRA.