There has been some confusion as to who may be a supervisor to write a letter of reference for a foreign qualified lawyer who is seeking to apply for exemption under sections 7b & 7c of the SRA form. The SRA had made reference to the need to supply 'evidence of your professional qualification, eg an admissions certificate or a Certificate of Good Standing' to the SRA for the Supervisor/Referee with the application for exemption. That would indicate that the Supervisor/Referee had to be a lawyer.
We wrote to the SRA to seek clarification. They have written back to clarify that the Supervisor/Referee. does NOT need to be a lawyer. Below is the text of their reply to our enquiry:
"Thank you for your email of 28 October 2022.
For the purposes of an SQE2 exemption we need a reference from those responsible for supervising the applicant’s work. This does not need to be a qualified lawyer or an individual we regulate. However, they must have directly supervised the applicant’s work and confirm they are suitably qualified to offer that supervision.
As we assess each case on its own merits I am not able to confirm if a reference will be accepted based on the scenario you have presented, but we can consider it. We will review this in context with the rest of the application and advise the applicant at that time if we need anything further.
I would also recommend considering the guidance on our website (under the heading ‘How to complete your application’), in particular the guidance for referees under Section 8. While the table for Section 8 is usually not required, the information for references will still be relevant.
If you have any questions please let me know.
Yours sincerely
Simon Prior
Authorisation Officer
Authorisation
Solicitors Regulation Authority"
Please see below for some other information that may be of assistance.
Guidance on what the SRA will accept as evidence of the supervisor's qualification:
General info on applying for an exemption from the SQE2 exam
Please the link below to our page on this where we have put all research on this.
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/
QWE Confirmation
Foreign Qualified Lawyers are normally exempt (but see below) from the QWE requirement. However, if you are not qualified as a lawyer you will need 2 years full time equivalent QWE (Qualifying Work Experience) to be confirmed to the SRA by an SRA regulated solicitor. If you don't have one, we can help: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/
The SRA has brought some clarity on how a foreign qualified lawyer may apply to them for exemption from the SQE1 exam if they have passed the LPC exam under the old system for qualifying as a solicitor of England & Wales.
You will first of all need to tell the SRA that you wish to use this option. You do this by completing the relevant form on their website. Here is a link to the form with some guidance: https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/legal-practice-course-route/substitute-qwe-sqe2-equivalent-training/
This means that you will now need to:
a) register for, sit and pass the SQE2 exam
b) prove that you passed your LPC (the SRA will ask for your LPC certificate when you apply to become a solicitor) and
c) have 2 years full time equivalent QWE (Qualifying Work Experience) confirmed to the SRA by an SRA regulated solicitor
Here is a link to a page on our website where we have listed the non-university training providers for the SQE exams: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe-training-providers/
QWE
We can help if you find yourself in a situation where you do not have someone in your organisation who is an SRA regulated solicitor who will confirm your QWE to the SRA. We have provided this service for over 40 people so far from around the world. Here is a link to the service. https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/
Fill in the form below with some information if you would like us to contact you to explore how we might be able to help.
The Information Commissioners Office (ICO), which is the UK's data protection watchdog charged with enforcing laws that regulate communications, networking and data protection, has opened a consultation on draft Guidelines for employers on who monitor staff. We were asked about this very subject only this week by one of our client firms. The consultation closes on 11th January 2023.
The guidance discusses monitoring at work and data protection. It is primarily aimed at employers. The first part of this guidance explains your legal obligations if your organisation is considering or is already carrying out monitoring of workers. The second part addresses specific kinds of monitoring.
The guidance provides clarity and practical advice to help employers who are monitoring workers to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). The UK GDPR and the DPA 2018 do not prevent an employer from monitoring workers, but they must do any monitoring in a way which is compliant with data protection legislation. Public authorities and all bodies performing public functions should also consider the right to respect for a private and family life enshrined in Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998. This is increasingly important due to the rise of homeworking. Workers’ expectation of privacy are likely to be significantly greater at home than in the workplace and the risks of capturing family and private life information are higher.
Here is a link to the draft guidelines: https://ico.org.uk/media/about-the-ico/consultations/4021868/draft-monitoring-at-work-20221011.pdf
Help
If you want to ask more about this or anything else about data protection, assistance with a subject access request or a review of your data protection policies & procedures, we can help. We have an expert in this area who will be happy to talk with you. We also hire him out by the hour as an external Data Protection Officer (DPO), saving you the cost of having to hire someone full time for that role when you don't yet need that. https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/gdpr-support
Hi everyone,
As promised to those who attended my webinar just now with info on the SQE & QWE route to qualifying as a solicitor of England & Wales, please find below in the comment links to resources to help.
The 4 elements to qualifying: 1 – a degree or degree equivalent; 2 – passing the SQE exams; 3 – 2 years full time equivalent QWE confirmed by an SRA regulated solicitor; 4 – completing the Certificate of Suitability.
Our ‘External QWE Confirmation service’ - click on the title for more info
Other Links below:
Validating Your Degree or Degree Equivalent
SQE Training Providers (excl universities)
Foreign Qualified Lawyers, SQE1 & 2 Exemptions & our Assistance
Foreign Qualified Lawyers - how to qualify as Solicitors - wider advice on exemptions
Link to our YouTube channel with lots of videos on about SQE & QWE – may we ask you kindly to subscribe so more may see this: https://www.youtube.com/@hunningsconsultancy999/playlists
Foreign Qualified Lawyers - passed the LPC - how to qualify
SQE2 Exemption - Example of message from SRA that the Application has been Granted: https://www.hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-example-of-message-from-sra-that-the-application-has-been-granted/
SQE2 Exemptions & lawyers from Ex-Soviet countries : https://www.hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-applications-ukranian-russian-belarussian-qualified-lawyers/
How to do the QWE Confirmation on the SRA website: https://www.hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/qwe-confirmation-on-the-sra-website-the-process/
TikTok channel with videos re QWE: qwehelpingemar
With the results of the first SQE2 exam now out, it's been lovely having people get in contact to thank us for our help. This has been Aspiring Solicitors whom we helped by acting as External Confirming Solicitor. They did not think they could proceed with their aim to qualify as solicitors of England & Wales because they did not have an SRA regulated solicitor in their organisation to confirm their QWE to the SRA. However, the SRA does allow people to reach outside their organisation to ask a solicitor to do the honour. We have now helped several dozen Aspiring Solicitors in this way.
See below a link to our service. Feel free to contact us by filling in the form below or emailing: [email protected]
The Law Society has issued new guidance in the light of the judgment given by the Supreme Court in Harcus Sinclair v Your Lawyers. Please see this link for more info: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/regulation/undertakings-what-you-need-to-consider-following-harcus-sinclair-v-your-lawyers
July 2022: The SRA has published new guidance about accepting instructions from vulnerable clients or third parties acting on their behalf. This following from consultation with the Law Society’s Mental Health and Disability Committee. Here’s a link to it:
https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/accepting-instructions-vulnerable-clients/
In case you missed it, the Law Society Gazette reported at the beginning of June 2022 that Hugh James Solicitors became the first conveyancer to complete a transaction with HM Land Registry with an electronic signature which does not require a witness. This has the potential to significantly reduce the period of time taken to convey a property (on average now 8 weeks).
It used Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES), which are a type of electronic signature based on public key infrastructure encryption. They include a digital certificate which can be issued only by an approved trust service provider (TSP) that issues such digital certification only after a face-to-face (either in-person or remote) identity verification process. A Law Commission working group found in February 2022 that these sort of electronic signatures can be at least as secure as physically witnessed ink signatures on documents such as deeds. This indicates the way things will go in the future, we think.
* Now Updated with the Email with the actual request for info*
The SRA seem to be emailing firms they regulate to ask them to get ready for a request for information concerning AML on matters they have worked on in the last year. This is kind of them! They state that they will contact firms in June to tell them how they submit the information. The deadline for submitting this will be 31st July 2022. A response in mandatory under 3.3 of our Code of Conduct for Firms. The responsibility for submitting the information falls on the COLP. The SRA state that they may take action if firms fail to provide the information. In the past they have levied fines of several thousand pounds. Please check in your 'Junk' mail inbox in case the email has gone there.
They are giving firms a 'heads up' of what the data is that they will be requesting. It concerns matters worked on in the last year. With regard to what 'the last year' means they write:
"Where we ask for information in relation to 'the last year'. Please choose whatever time period works for your firm, this could be:
The last calendar year
The last tax year or
The last year to date"
Below is a copy of the email that some of our client firms have received from the SRA and then also the questions that the SRA are asking so you may see what info they want.
Whilst here, please note that we can help with your questions about AML, we provide an Independent AML Audit, AML Training and support for all compliance issues facing SRA regulated firms - plus also a DPO service and assistance with Data Protection compliance. Feel free to fill in the form below to request further information.
First here is a copy of the actual request that is going out to firms in June - deadline for submission 31.7.22
QWE, in the context of qualifying as a Solicitor of England & Wales, stands for Qualifying Work Experience. It is one of the 4 elements the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) requires an Aspiring Solicitor to complete before they admit them onto the roll as a qualified solicitor of England & Wales.
The SRA require you to have 2 years Full Time Equivalent QWE confirmed to them by a solicitor whom they regulate.
So, it has to be confirmed to them by a solicitor they regulate - it cannot be a barrister. They do not regulate barristers. It cannot be a foreign qualified lawyer - unless they are also qualified as a solicitor of England & Wales. The point is that it is someone whom they regulate who does the confirmation - effectively for them and to them. I guess, so they have some sanction and control if the solicitor doesn't fulfill their role properly.
2 years full time equivalent - as far as we are aware there is no definitive definition of what 'full time' means. So we guess it is up to the opinion of the confirming solicitor. Ingemar Hunnings is our solicitor who confirms QWE for people who do not have an SRA-regulated solicitor in their organisation, is of the view that 30-35 hours a week QWE would be full time equivalent. (Holidays are permitted!)
The SRA has been clear that QWE can but does NOT need to be gained in a law firm, does NOT need to be gained in England & Wales, does NOT need even to be paid, so may be voluntary work. You may reach back in time as far as you want.
What it DOES need to be is "the provision of legal services". Whether what you do falls within that definition, will again be up to the judgment of the Confirming Solicitor. Ingemar Hunnings always offers a free, no obligation zoom to explore this and give general advice about SQE & QWE before committing to assisting in confirming QWE (see below). Best advice is always to use an internal SRA-regulated solicitor, if one is available.
If you plan to start a job which you plan to use as QWE, we would suggest you make this clear to your prospective employer and also, if there is no SRA regulated solicitor in that organisation to confirm your QWE, find someone outside who is willing to do this for you and check with them that they believe the work will be QWE. The last thing you want is for you to work there for 2 years and then find out that it doesn't amount to QWE!
Follow the link below for other top tips about QWE:
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/qwe-confirmation-5-top-tips/
External QWE Confirmation Service
If you need someone to confirm your QWE and there is no-one in your organisation - we can help. Please see the link below. Ingemar has successfully done this for over Aspiring Solicitors so far from around the world.
QWE - External Confirming Solicitor Service - for Aspiring Solicitors
