Six months on from the introduction of the SRA Transparency Rules it is surprising to hear that some firms are yet to comply with the new obligations. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) recently published (June 2019) the results of its Transparency Rules Web Sweep showing nearly 58% of firms were partially complying and 17% were not complying at all.
As from 6 December 2018 the SRA requires firms to publish on their websites:
- price and service information for certain legal services
- regulatory and complaint related information
For services provided to individuals, the rules apply to:
- residential conveyancing
- probate
- motoring offences
- employment tribunals (unfair or wrongful dismissal)
- immigration (excluding asylum)
For services provided to small businesses, the rules apply to:
- debt recovery (up to £100,000)
- employment tribunals (unfair or wrongful dismissal)
- licensing applications for business premises
These regulations only apply to firms regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and not those firms offering legal services who are either unregulated or approved by another regulator.
Prospective clients have for many years telephoned firms, prior to engagement, for conveyancing quotes, been given details over the phone of legal charges and disbursements, then sent to them, by post or email. But, now there is a mandatory requirement to provide costs information for certain legal services. The details have to be included on a website or where the firm has no website the information has to be available to prospective clients, for example in a leaflet or brochure to pickup from the office or be sent to them on request so they can make an informed decision, no doubt after shopping around a few firms first. It should also be noted that the regulations include a very limited range of legal services both for individuals and businesses. Beyond the scope of these services, where for example conveyancing becomes embroiled in separation/trust issues, boundary disputes, or employment cases involves issues like discrimination, contested probate cases, and immigration asylum cases to name but a few, etc…, etc….,it is perhaps not so clear! So what about the cost of those and other possible issues?
The rules provide that as well as prices, firms are also required to publish information on:
- what services are included within the displayed price and
- any services not included in the price that might reasonably be expected to be included
- details of the experience and qualifications of teams/individuals who will carry out the work
- typical timescales and key stages of the matter
Work still needs to be done by a lot of firms to comply fully with the rules otherwise sanctions will be on their way.
For details on a podcast CLICK HERE!
