Reserved legal activities Definition

GLOSSARY

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What does Reserved legal activities mean?

This is a defined term in the Legal Services Act 2007 and means: the exercise if a right of audience; the conduct of litigation; reserved instrument activities (relating to the transfer of land); probate activities; notarial activities; the administration of oaths.

These are mainstream legal activities which the law has determined must be provided as regulated services. Legal services bodies that want to provide reserved legal activities must be authorised to do so by an approved regulator

View the related checklists about Reserved legal activities

Outsourcing—checklist—law firms

Outsourcing—checklist—law firms This Checklist includes key compliance stages for law firms engaging in outsourcing, from the point at which your firm first considers entering into an outsourcing agreement up to and including post-agreement auditing. It reflects the requirements of the SRA Standards and Regulations and should be read in conjunction with Practice Notes: • Outsourcing and offshoring—law firms • Outsourcing—systems and controls for law firms • Outsourcing for law firms: compliance lifecycle Type of outsourcing Requirement Compulsory or recommended Comments (if any) ☐ Identify whether you outsource any reserved legal activitiesSee Practice Note: Outsourcing and offshoring—law firms—Different categories of outsourcing Compulsory You must not outsource the provision of reserved legal activity services to a provider that is not authorised by the SRA (or another regulator) to provide reserved legal services (Insert any comments you may wish to make regarding your firm’s arrangements) ☐ If yes, confirm your outsourcing supplier is authorised to conduct reserved legal activities As above (Insert any comments you may wish to make regarding your firm’s...

Supervision—checklist—law firms

Supervision—checklist—law firms This Checklist is designed to help you determine whether you have the systems in place to comply with regulatory requirements that apply to law firms, including SRA requirements, in relation to supervision. It should be read in conjunction with subtopic: Supervision and file reviews. Management and control Requirement Compulsory or recommended Comments (if any) ☐ Ensure your governance arrangements are suitable to operate or control a business providing regulated legal services.See subtopics: SRA authorisation and approval and Governance structures. Compulsory SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules, r 2.2 (Insert any comments you may wish to make regarding your firm’s arrangements) ☐ Ensure you have at least one manager or employee, or procure the services of an individual, who:—is a lawyer of England and Wales and has practised as such for a minimum of three years, and—supervises the work undertaken by your firm Compulsory SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules, r 9.4 (Insert any comments you may wish to make regarding your firm’s arrangements) Service and competence Requirement Compulsory or...

Supervision—regulatory requirements 2011 [Archived]

Supervision means the management of people and their work, and includes supervising fee earners and non-fee earning staff.Proper supervision is a statutory and regulatory obligation.Firms and individuals regulated by the SRA must comply with the SRA’s rules on supervision. These rules are peppered throughout the SRA Handbook. SRA HandbookSpecific supervision requirements are scattered across the SRA Handbook. They relate to:•governance structure and reporting lines•persons qualified to supervise•reserved legal activities and immigration work•supervision of client matters•training•conflicts of interest and disclosure•trainees•outsourcing•data protectionGovernance structure and reporting linesYou must have a clear and effective governance structure and reporting lines.Person qualified to superviseEvery firm must have at least one person who is qualified to supervise.They must:•be a practising lawyer •have been entitled to practise as a lawyer for at least 36 months within the last ten years, and•have completed training specified by the SRA for this purposeAny period as a lawyer in another jurisdiction can be taken into account in satisfying the 36 months requirement.The specified training is attendance or participation in any courses or...

Outsourcing and the SRA [Archived]

This Practice Note covers regulatory requirements that are specific to the legal sector in relation to outsourcing. It reflects requirements in the SRA Handbook 2011.For guidance on requirements under data protection legislation, see Practice Notes:•Outsourcing and data protection•Outsourcing and offshoring—law firmsFor guidance on general risk management best practice, see Practice Notes:•Due diligence•Limitation of liability clauses•Step-in rights and other remedies•Outsourcing and TUPE: law firm outsourcingWhenever you engage in outsourcing activities, you will have to navigate a complex compliance obstacle course. We have attempted to simplify this in Outsourcing compliance lifecycle diagram.SRA HandbookThe SRA does not prescribe in detail:•what outsourcing is•what you can and cannot outsource•how to outsource•what systems and controls you should have in placeHowever, outsourcing is one of the few areas where the SRA has provided some additional guidance. This guidance does not form part of the SRA Handbook. It is therefore not compulsory, but it should certainly be considered good practice and is reflected in this note.Law Society guidanceThe Law Society has produced a guidance note on outsourcing, which...

Discover our 35 Practice Notes on Reserved legal activities

SRA Standards and Regulations—post-training assessment answers

SRA Standards and Regulations—post-training assessment answers Question Answer 1. Under the SRA Standards and Regulations, how many Codes of Conduct are there? (b) Two 2. How many SRA Principles are there? (b) 7 3. Who has a duty to report compliance breaches? (a) All members of staff 4. Organisations that provide legal services have to be authorised if they provide which of the following? (a) Reserved legal activities 5. Circle all the reserved legal activities. (b) Probate activities(c) The exercise of a right of

SRA Standards and Regulations—post-training assessment questions

SRA Standards and Regulations—post-training assessment questions How to use this test These questions are designed to test your understanding after your attendance at training on the SRA Standards and Regulations. After you have completed this test, please return it to [insert name]. General Name of person completing test [Insert name] Role [Insert role] Date [Insert date] Multiple choice questions Circle the correct answer. Question Multiple choice answers 1. Under the SRA Standards and Regulations, how many Codes of Conduct are there? (a) One(b) Two(c) Three 2. How many SRA Principles are there? (a) 8(b) 7(c) 6 3. Who has a duty to report compliance breaches? (a) All members of staff(b) Fee earners(c) Managers 4. Organisations that provide legal services have to be authorised if they provide which of the following? (a) Reserved legal activities(b) Any legal advice(c) Non-reserved legal activities 5. Circle all the reserved legal activities. (a) Will writing(b) Probate activities(c) The exercise of a right of audience(d) Administration of oaths(e) Providing advice on the law 6....

Dive into our 2 Precedents related to Reserved legal activities

Can a law firm have a compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) who is an unqualified employee?

Can a law firm have a compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) who is an unqualified employee? The SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules require a law firm which is an authorised body to, at all times, have an individual who is designated as its COLP, and whose designation the SRA has approved. There are qualifying requirements as to who can be designated as COLP. The individual designated as COLP must: • be a manager or employee of the firm (unless they are already approved as compliance officer for a related firm, and they are a manager or employee of that related firm) • consent to the designation

Can a legal executive advise on a settlement agreement and, if so, can his fees be paid free of tax?

Can a legal executive advise on a settlement agreement and, if so, can his fees be paid free of tax? Contracting-out provisions (such as those found in section 203(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996)) work by imposing a basic rule that any agreement reached between an employee and his employer that purports to prevent the employee from making, or proceeding with, a claim to an employment tribunal is void to that extent. However, all such contracting-out provisions provide exceptions to that basic rule (see, for example, ERA 1996, s 203(2)). Provided one of the exceptions applies, the claim (or potential claim) can validly be settled between the parties. The two exceptions are: • agreements reached following conciliation under the auspices of an Acas conciliation officer • agreements that satisfy the conditions regulating settlement agreements One of the conditions regulating settlement agreements is that the employee or worker must have received advice from a 'relevant independent adviser' as to the terms and effect of...

See the 11 Q&As about Reserved legal activities

Question of the week: Is the preparation of a deed of surrender a reserved legal activity? If it is a reserved legal activity, is it possible for a solicitor employee of a non-authorised organisation to prepare such a deed?

This Q&A considers whether the preparation of a deed of surrender could constitute a reserved instrument activity and therefore be considered a reserved legal activity for the purpose of the Legal Services Act 2007. It also deals with the question of whether a solicitor employee of a non-authorised organisation can conduct reserved instrument activities.

Question of the week: Can a law firm have a compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) who is an unqualified employee?

The SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules require authorised bodies at all times to have an individual who is designated as its compliance officer for legal practice (COLP), and whose designation the SRA has approved. This Q&A considers whether there are any restrictions which would prevent an unqualified member of staff at a law firm from being designated as COLP.

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