The SRA has published guidance for the firms and solicitors it regulates on how they should supervise staff.

They have written:

"This guidance should help regulated individuals and law firms’ managers and senior staff understand what we expect them to do to meet the current statutory and regulatory requirements on supervision.

The guidance should help legal services providers to meet the requirements in our Standards and Regulations, and to comply with other relevant legal and regulatory requirements on supervision. Firms seeking our authorisation should find the guidance helpful in setting out what we expect from them in terms of arranging adequate and effective supervision at the point of authorisation and beyond.    

Effective supervision is both a regulatory requirement and good practice in the delivery of services to clients. While negligence in the delivery of legal services is not itself always proof of a failure in supervision, effective supervision has a role to play in managing negligence risks, as well as other regulatory risks."

Here is a link to the full text of the Guidance: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/effective-supervision-guidance?s=01

We suspect that the SRA will use this as a benchmark when reviewing firms, considering complaints and disciplinary issues. We recommend that firms review their policies & practice in the light of this guidance.

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