SRA Handbook

Persons who must be "qualified to supervise"

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Version 2 of the Handbook was published on 23/12/2011. For more information, please click 'History' Above

Rule 12: Persons who must be "qualified to supervise"

12.1

The following persons must be "qualified to supervise":

(a)

a recognised sole practitioner;

(b)

one of the lawyer managers of an authorised body or of a body corporate which is a legally qualified body and which is a manager of the authorised body;

(c)

one of the solicitors or RELs employed by a law centre in England and Wales; or

(d)

one in-house solicitor or in-house REL in any department in England and Wales where solicitors and/or RELs, as part of their employment:

(i)

do publicly funded work; or

(ii)

do or supervise advocacy or the conduct of proceedings for members of the public before a court or immigration tribunal.

12.2

To be "qualified to supervise " under this rule a person must:

(a)

have completed the training specified from time to time by the SRA for this purpose; and

(b)

have been entitled to practise as a lawyer for at least 36 months within the last ten years; and

must be able to demonstrate this if asked by the SRA.

Guidance notes

(i)

The person "qualified to supervise" under Rule 12 does not have to be personally entitled by law to supervise all work undertaken by the firm. However, an important part of that person's responsibilities is to ensure that unqualified persons do not undertake reserved work except under the supervision of a suitably qualified person.

(ii)

In satisfying the requirement for 36 months entitlement to practise you can for example rely on a period as a lawyer of another jurisdiction. In calculating the 36 months, any period of entitlement to practise as a lawyer of another jurisdiction can be taken into account in addition to your time entitled to practise as a solicitor.

(iii)

Waivers may be granted in individual cases. See Rule 21.

(iv)

The training presently specified by the SRA is attendance at or participation in any course(s), or programme(s) of learning, on management skills involving attendance or participation for a minimum of 12 hours. The courses or programmes do not have to be CPD accredited in order to satisfy the requirement. It is not normally necessary to check with the SRA before undertaking a course or programme unless the course is unusual and outside the mainstream of management training. Advice may be sought from the Professional Ethics Guidance Team.