Description

Fully revised and updated, the third edition of Outcomes-Focused Regulation: Compliance in Practice brings practitioners up to date with recent and upcoming changes to the SRA Handbook and evolving regulation. Covering all the main requirements of the Handbook, the drivers behind them, and essential steps to remain compliant, it also provides practical tools to help firms formulate a compliance plan. Also included are real-life case studies from leading practitioners, giving critical insight into practical issues faced by compliance officers, and best-practice advice on good governance and compliance planning.

Key features of this updated book include:

• Information on the effects of the LSA and the changes it has brought;
• An overview of the 16th version of the SRA Handbook;
• The SRA Principles;
• The SRA’s approach to authorisation and its views on risk, including information from the Regulatory Risk Framework;
• The SRA Code of Conduct and an explanation of its compliance requirements and risk management strategies in key areas such as client care, conflicts of interests, and confidentiality, referrals, outsourcing, separate businesses, and overseas practice;
• An indicator of changes on the horizon and how the SRA is likely to respond;
• The SRA’s approach to supervision, including a reference to the indicators in the various supervision and enforcement strategies published by the SRA;
• Advice on compliance planning; and
• Case studies and practitioners’ perspectives.

This book is designed to assist firms to develop and strengthen their governance arrangements and risk management strategies as they become more familiar with outcomes-focused regulation. It also flags up new business opportunities available to firms through external investment and the use of separate businesses.

Contents

Chapter 1: ‘Constant change in the legal services market

Chapter 2: The opening up of the legal services market

Chapter 3: The SRA’s response to the LSA

Chapter 4: The SRA Handbook

Chapter 5: How the SRA evaluates and deals with law firm risk

Chapter 6: Authorisation Rules and how they affect all firms

Chapter 7: An analysis of the COLP and COFA roles

Chapter 8: Other requirements for authorised firms

Chapter 9: The SRA’s powers over firms

Chapter 10: How new firms become authorised

Chapter 11: The SRA Code of Conduct 2011 and the practical application of OFR

Chapter 12: Client care

Chapter 13: Conflicts of interests

Chapter 14: The duty of confidentiality and disclosure

Chapter 15: Fee sharing and referrals

Chapter 16: Separate businesses

Chapter 17: Outsourcing

Chapter 18: Compliance with the rest of the SRA Code of Conduct 2011

Chapter 19: SRA Overseas Rules 2013

Chapter 20: SRA Accounts Rules 2011 – The compliance requirements and the role of the COFA

Chapter 21: Other significant aspects of the SRA Handbook

Chapter 22: Compliance planning

Authors