Have you ever wondered if you are doing enough to keep yourself up to date, or whether you are meeting your CPD requirements? In my previous role as a fee earner I was often unsure whether I had done enough or if the courses I attended were the right ones, in order to help others I have written this two part blog.
In this first part of the series, I will be looking at the SRA’s Continuing Competence Scheme for qualified Solicitors and in the second part of this series will be looking at CILEx’s CPD requirement’s in more detail.
Other regulatory bodies have their own criteria which you will need to consider, if appropriate.
What’s the difference between CPD and Continuing Comptence?
Historically, both the Solicitors Regulatory Authority “SRA” and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) required lawyers to using this method however on 1st November 2016 the SRA reformed their learning and development approach and replaced it with the “Continuing Competence Scheme”. CILEx continue to use the CPD process.
Continuing Professional Development points (CPD) are a way of measuring the time and quality of learning and development (L&D) activities.
Post qualification lawyers are required to complete Continuing Professional Development “CPD” every year to broaden their legal knowledge, their skills and to ensure professional competence.
Who designs and overseas Continuing Competence and CPD?
The Legal Services Board (LSB) was set up by the Law Society to be the overseeing regulator for legal services regulators in England and Wales (such as the SRA and CILEx). The aim of the LSB is to provide consistency and clarity to the regulation of lawyers, and to provide a sharper focus on the interests of clients. The LSB oversees the work of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and the Charter Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) among others and they are an independent extension of The Law Society.
To help explain this chain of regulators more clearly I have set out two examples below with numbers 1 at the top of the chain moving down the list: –
- Legal Services Board (LSB)
- The Law Society
- Solicitors Regulations Authority (SRA)
- Solicitors
- Legal Services Board (LSB)
- The Law Society
- Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx)
- Practitioners of CILEx / CILEx Paralegals
The LSB’s aim is to reshape the legal services sector to better meet society’s needs and to provide clients with fairer outcomes, stronger confidence, and better services. Their view is that clients should be able to trust that legal professionals have the necessary skills, knowledge and attributes to provide good quality legal services and that they are kept up to date and relevant over time.
The LSB’s view is that education and training for lawyers has previous focused on assuring competence at the point of qualification, but the LSB state that regulators should also ensure that legal professionals remain competent throughout their careers. A study of lawyer’s continuing education and training was conducted by the LSB in 2020 and the results showed that the competence measures were out of step with client’s expectations of ongoing checks for legal professionals. The LSB concluded that regulators need to do more to understand levels of competence and to demonstrate their approach.
What do the SRA require from you?
The SRA require all qualified lawyers to comply with the following:-
- Responsibility – To take responsibility for your personal learning and development.
- Reflect – To reflect on, and learn from your practice and to learn from other people.
- Evaluate – Accurately evaluate your strengths and limitations in relation to the demand of your work.
- Maintain – an adequate and up-to-date understanding of relevant law, policy and practice.
- Adapt – your practice to address developments in the delivery of legal services
How can I satisfy the SRA?
The Solicitor Regulation Authority (SRA) expect all Solicitors to comply with their Code of Conduct and all solicitors must maintain their competence to carry out their role, ensuring their professional knowledge and skills are up to date. To do this, the SRA set out five steps they expect Solicitors to take:
Reflect
Regularly consider the quality of your practice.
Identify
Through reflection, identify your learning and developmental needs.
Plan and Address
Regularly update your plan on how you have addressed your learning and development needs.
Record
Keep an up-to-date record of your learning and development activities.
Evaluate
Think about the effectiveness of your learning and development.
Previously the SRA asked Solicitors to complete 16 hours of CPD training per year and to produce evidence of the CPD points acquired, as part of their certificate renewal process. However, as explained above, this changed on 1st November 2016 when the SRA overhauled their CPD process.
Now, there are no longer any requirements on the a minimum amount of time, or whether the training is provided by an accredited service but the SRA insist that all Solicitors should reflect on their work and complete learning and development that keeps them competent. It is for you to reflect upon, identify and plan any continuing learning and development that you require and this allows you as a solicitor, the freedom and flexibility to decide your own learning and developmental needs. You should consider and decide which activities will help you to deliver a proper standard of service to your clients.
The SRA provide a learning and development template for lawyers to complete, and a link to this template can be found here SRA | Template | Solicitors Regulation Authority. This template is not mandatory but it is a requirement that you keep a record of the learning and development you undertake.
The SRA will investigate any competence issues which arise and they may also contact firms to ask for evidence of solicitors continuing competence and in both instances, records will need to be provided.
When should I complete this by?
Continuing Competence should be completed annually and the time period runs from 1 November until 31 October each year.
In the second part of this series I will be looking at CILEx requirements in more detail.