05-08.08 Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) – Consultations on New Forms of Practice and Regulation and further changes to the Regulatory Processes

The SRA have set out for consultation several papers proposing changes to the regulatory processes in advance of Legal Disciplinary Practices (LDPs) being set up following the Legal Services Act 2007 (the 2007 Act).

The first set of three consultations examines proposed changes to the rules and regulatory processes to enable new forms of practice and regulation in light of the 2007 Act. The response date for this set of consultations is 21^st April 2008 and the direct link to the paper is http://www.sra.org.uk/consultations/429.article

In addition to the above three consultations, the SRA have set out for consultation the following papers:

(i) Changes to the Recognised Bodies Regulations (which relates to the developing framework to allow firm-based regulation to allow LDPs the response date for this paper is 21 April and the direct link is http://www.sra.org.uk/securedownload/file/478;

(ii) Information Requirements from Firms (inviting comments on the type of information that the SRA would require to fulfill its new regulatory obligations) the response date for this paper is 30 April and the direct link is http://www.sra.org.uk/securedownload/file/465; and

(iii) Client Financial Protection (how the SRA should develop its financial protection policy to accommodate LDPs in light of the 2007 Act) the response date for this paper is 23 April and the direct link is http://www.sra.org.uk/securedownload/file/482.

The above consultations can also be accessed on the following SRA website address: http://www.sra.org.uk/consultations.page

ILEX is inviting comments/observations on one or any of the above papers before close of the consultations.

If you would like to add your views to any of these papers please email [email protected]

• To see the response of Client Financial Protection paper please access here.