The SRA asked to review our process for confirming QWE as an External Solicitor for an Aspiring Solicitor we'd helped: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/ We've always been very careful to ensure our process follows what the SRA requires and that each step is carefully documented (Ingemar is a litigator and so naturally prepares his work as if he is expecting the judge to view it!). We received the news last week that the SRA had told our client that they found the process acceptable and so they admitted him as a solicitor of England & Wales. 🙂
We have long held the view that the SRA should audit those who confirm QWE to ensure there is no abuse. We are pleased that we have now gone through a review by the SRA and they have found that our approach meets their requirements.
We have so far helped over 100 Aspiring Solicitors from around the world by acting as their external confirming solicitor, where they did not have an SRA regulated solicitor to confirm their QWE. We are a port of last resort to help them move forward and qualify. If they already have an SRA regulated solicitor who can confirm their QWE we advise them to use that person.
External QWE Confirmation
Link to the service: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/
We have so far confirmed the QWE of over 100 aspiring solicitors from all over the world.
It seems that the SRA sent out emails en mass on 2nd July 2024 informing many, if not all, law firms that it regulates that they will be sending out to them a Financial Crime Questionnaire in early August that they will want completed by mid-September.
Here is a link to the Sample of the Questionnaire they have shared: https://www.hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/aml-data-collection-2024-questionnaire.pdf
Here is a copy of the message received by one of our client firms. Here is a link to the page of advice on the SRA website: https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/news/firm-anti-money-laundering-sanctions-data-requirements/
What is noticeable is that it is mandatory for every firm to complete the Sanctions section, whereas the AML section will only need to be completed by certain firms (read the questions & criteria).
This may come as a bit of a shock to many firms who are not up to speed with compliance with the Sanctions Regime. ALL businesses are within scope with regard to Sanctions Compliance.
We Can Help with:
a) Completion of the SRA Questionnaire - fee: £100 + VAT
d) AML Training
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email: [email protected]
We are delighted to add this service to the suite of services we provide. It complements other support for the people delivering legal services, such as mentoring, business review, review of cashflow, compliance policies & procedures and training.
For a long time we have been looking for the right person to launch this service. Vicky Simpson has joined the team. She has many years of experience in coaching people and teams in law firms at all levels, leading strategy days and suchlike. This may be provided on-site or remotely. Vicky will work with the firm to run through all aspects of the business from back office to Managing Partner/CEO and all the roles in between. Typically, this involves an initial scoping day, followed by a Strategy Day, before the firm embarks on a 12–18-month programme. Vicky will also work with individuals of the business for those who would benefit from 121 coaching.
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We support for those firms using the Clio case management system.
Help with:
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Please use the form below to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
We have worked with over 800 businesses on their case management systems; implementing, set & training & general advice. We provide similar support for users of the Proclaim eclipse Case Management software: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/proclaim-support/ and for firms using the LEAP Case Management software: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/leap-assistance/ and for firms using the Actionstep Case Management System https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/actionstep-support/
We have seen some confusion amongst aspiring solicitors when completing the form for applying for exemption from the SQE2 exam. So, we thought it best to seek clarification from the SRA, as it did not appear that that there was anything clear about this on the SRA website. (This is for people already qualified as lawyers and wanting to qualify as solicitors of England & Wales through the SQE route.)
We have placed a copy of the correspondence below. However, we also explain here.
Only people already qualified as a lawyer may apply for an exemption from the SQE2 exam (more info on how to do so & how we can help: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/). In section 4 of the application form people have been ticking section 4a when that does NOT apply to someone qualified in their jurisdiction. Section 4a reads:
"4a. Agreed exemption(s) for your jurisdiction
Use this section if you are applying for the exemptions that we have agreed with your jurisdiction."
Instead they should have been completing section 4b of the form. This starts off:
"4b. New exemptions
Use this section if you are applying for a new exemption for your qualification or are using a personal qualification or work experience to request an exemption to the SQE assessments. "
The SRA has granted an 'Agreed Exemption' for people qualified as lawyers in certain jurisdictions because they have examined the content of their qualification, what it permits them to do and that 2 years' legal work experience is a mandatory requirement of their qualification. Thus the qualification itself proves the work experience. People qualified in those jurisdictions as lawyers only need to complete sections 1, 2, 3 and 4a of the form & submit that to the SRA through their 'mySRA' profile together with the SRA fee and proof of their qualification.
You may check the SRA's website to see if lawyers qualified in your jurisdiction have been granted an 'Agreed Exemption'. Here is the link: https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/qualified-lawyers/sqe-exemptions/
If your jurisdiction is not listed as having an 'Agreed Exemption', you may make an Individual Application for an exemption from the SQE2 exam. Further info about making this and how you might ask us to help may be found here: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/
If you believe that your jurisdiction should have been granted an 'Agreed Exemption' - that is for you to take up with the SRA. We have no influence on their decision.
Below is a copy of our enquiry of the SRA and their reply. We hope this will be of some assistance to you.
Our enquiry to the SRA:
"Good morning,
I have a question. This has been asked of me and I cannot see anything on the SRA website to answer it.
“Would the ‘agreed exemption’ mean someone qualified in such a jurisdiction can apply as soon as soon as they qualify, without having to gain 2 years’ legal work experience?”
Thank you for your kind assistance.
Regards
Ingemar Hunnings"
The reply from the SRA:
"Dear Ingemar Hunnings
Thank you for your email of 19 April 2024. I am sorry for the delay getting back to you.
Yes that is correct. Applicants who have completed the full route to qualification in an agreed exemption jurisdiction (and subsequently been admitted as a qualified lawyer) complete at least two years of regulated experience as part of their route to qualification. Consequently, they are not required to complete additional post-qualification experience in order to apply for an SQE2 exemption.
Individuals who have not been formally admitted as a qualified lawyer in their home jurisdiction are not eligible to apply for an exemption until they complete this step.
Yours sincerely
Simon Prior
Authorisation Officer
Authorisation
Solicitors Regulation Authority/Awdurdod Rheoleiddio Cyfreithwyr"
............................................................................................................................................
External QWE Confirmation Service
This is relevant to people who are NOT qualified as lawyers already. If you know of someone who needs an SRA regulated solicitor to confirm their QWE but have no-one in their organisation to do so - we can help. This service would apply to someone who is NOT qualified as a lawyer. Please see the link below and feel free to signpost them to us:
QWE - External Confirming Solicitor Service - for Aspiring Solicitors
YouTube Videos on SQE, SQE2 Exemptions & QWE:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOC0Ce13KlxZryhvZpmORpLB2hLIMTSQu
Please feel free to subscribe!
The SRA is turning its attention to this. It is anyway a sensible thing to do for any business - risk assess a client and a job before taking it on. This is referred to in quality marks across many industry and service sectors as well as the legal services sector. As well as this the SRA has a focus on the prevention of financial crime. In July 2024 the SRA started to include a request to see this when doing AML Inspections.
In a webinar by the SRA in February 2024 the SRA said:
"Our recent thematic review of client/matter risk assessments found that less than half of those produced within firms were compliant with the rules. This led to us issuing a warning notice on the issue."
The SRA have created a template for Client & Matter Risk Assessments (CMRA). We have put a copy here which you may download.
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/cmra-template.docx
Here you may view the Guide the SRA produced in 2024 into Completing the Client & Matter Risk Assessments:
Here is a link to their web page from which this came and which has other information from them:
Assistance with your AML & Onboarding Compliance
We provide a lot of AML support to businesses in the Legal Sector. Please see below for a summary and links for further information.
Feel free to contact us, ideally by using the 'How can we help you?' form below.
The SRA has emphasised that compliance with the Sanctions regime applies to all businesses, irrespective of whether they fall within AML scope. They have issued fresh guidance about this.
Here is the link:
https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/sanctions-regime-firm-wide-risk-assessments/
At last year's COLP & COFA Conference the SRA gave notice that they would be starting to carry out compliance audits for Sanctions regime compliance. We expect them to follow a similar format to those for AML compliance (with which we help on a regular basis).
Feel free to contact is for sanction compliance training, drafting or reviewing policies & procedures, our AML & Sanctions Manual of anything else linked with Sanctions compliance.
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We thought it might be helpful to bring together several themes and pieces of clarification from the SRA into one article.
QWE
Firstly, can Immigration work count as QWE? As always it depends upon whether the work done meets the definition of QWE: ‘the provision of legal services’. However, in most cases we have found that Immigration work DOES meet that definition and is QWE. This is the case whether the firm is in the UK and regulated by the SRA or the OISC or indeed the work is outside the UK. If there is an SRA regulated solicitor there you may ask them to confirm this to the SRA. If they are not willing to do so, or there is no SRA regulated solicitor there – you may reach out to an external solicitor to do the QWE confirmation. This is a service we provide:
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/
SQE2 Exemption
Can someone, who is not qualified as a lawyer but is regulated by the OISC apply for an exemption from the SQE2 exam as a qualified lawyer? Sadly the answer is ‘No’. We received the reply below from the SRA in March 2024 to an enquiry we made on this point:
“No, OISC-regulated individuals are not eligible to apply for exemption under SQE. This is because OISC is not covered by the Legal Services Act and the qualification does not grant practice rights.”
If you already qualified as a lawyer, for example in another jurisdiction, can Immigration work count as legal work experience for an application for an exemption from the SQE2 exam? In our opinion it can. We have helped people with such experience make such applications. Sadly, few tell us of the outcome of their application, so we cannot quote any feedback after the application.
What if the applicant’s supervisor is regulated by the OISC? One is required to submit, with the application for exemption, proof of the supervisor’s admission to the OISC such as a Certificate of Good Standing from the regulatory body of the supervisor. The OISC state that they refuse to do this as a matter of policy and that the SRA are well aware of this, but that the SRA may contact them direct for information. We made enquiries of the SRA and received the following reply with clarification in February 2024:
“In the absence of a certificate of good standing we can use other resources to confirm the qualification of the supervisor. In this instance it may include using the OISC Adviser Finder and/or contacting the regulator directly.
As we consider each application case-by case, based on the evidence presented to us, we may take a similar approach for applicants qualified in other jurisdictions.”
For advice & assistance with applications for exemption from the SQE2 exam:
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/
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We have obtained clarification from the SRA on what evidence they would accept of the supervisor's qualification when considering an application for exemption from the SQE2 exam.
Generally, it is only those who are already qualified as a lawyer in a jurisdiction who may apply for an exemption from the SQE2 exam. If you are completing sections 7b or 7c you will need to submit, along with the other items, proof of the supervisor's professional qualification. (If they are not a lawyer, then you will need also, in the Letter of Reference, need to set out why they are suitable to supervise your work.)
The application form makes reference to this evidence as 'their certificate(s) of good standing'. We have sought clarification on this as clients whom we have been helping through this process have, from time-to-time, been encountering problems with their supervisor being unable to obtain & supply a Certificate of Good Standing.
The SRA have replied to us that with regard to a supervisor regulated by the OISC: "In the absence of a certificate of good standing we can use other resources to confirm the qualification of the supervisor. In this instance it may include using the OISC Adviser Finder and/or contacting the regulator directly."
The SRA have also written with wider guidance:
"We have always been able to consider a range of documents to confirm the supervisor’s professional legal qualification. We do not limit this evidence to just a certificate of good standing, although this is generally the document most applicants and their supervisors will provide.
Our guidance was recently updated to better explain the types of documents we can consider. As such, the requirements have not been relaxed and continue to apply across all jurisdictions we assess.
We can therefore consider any evidence that confirms a supervisor’s qualification. The wording will vary between jurisdictions, but we can consider any document that confirms the individual is a qualified lawyer and the date they were admitted/qualified in that jurisdiction. This can include admission/enrolment certificates, ID cards issued by the regulatory body, and certificates of fitness/good standing. This list is not exhaustive.
We would generally advise against sending a practising certificate as this does not usually confirm the supervisor’s date of qualification. If the qualification date is confirmed on the practising certificate then we would be able to consider it on a case-by-case basis."
The general guidance on the SRA web page now reads: "an admission certificate or a certificate of good standing", although the application form itself still states only 'Certificate of Good Standing'. It is clear that, despite what the application form states, the SRA will accept a wider selection of proof with regard to the applicant's supervisor.
For general advice & assistance with applications for exemption from the SQE2 exam:
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/
For Videos about SQE2 exemptions:
https://www.youtube.com/@hunningsconsultancy999/videos
Copies of the emails from the SRA:
OISC Regulated Supervisor:
General Guidance:
QWE - confirmation by an External Solicitor
If you are NOT qualified as a lawyer in any jurisdiction, you will have to have a minimum of 2 years' Qualifying Work Experience confirmed to a the SRA by an SRA regulated solicitor. If you do not have anyone in your company to do this, we can help.
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/
We have spotted that SRA have added in some new requirements for the content of the Letter of Reference from your supervisor.
The new things are:
We are writing to you as soon as we have spotted this change to their website.
With regard to the evidence that you are supposed to show to your referee - we are not quite sure what this means. The comment is relevant if you are having to complete section 8 of the application form, but not really that relevant if you are only having to complete section 7 - as you are not submitting any evidence, other than perhaps your Certificate of Good Standing or Admission Certificate.
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/
(Only required where someone is NOT already qualified as a lawyer in a jurisdiction.)
https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/
YouTube Videos on SQE, SQE2 Exemptions & QWE
