Compliance is moving up the agenda for law firms!
Last year we predicted that compliance requirements were only going to get tougher for law firms as their regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (“SRA”), flexed its muscles.
Our prediction
In our blog, As compliance requirements get tougher for law firms, here’s how Global BPO can help ease the pain, we said:
“….the direction of travel for compliance in the legal sector [is] more rules, more enforcement and more publicity even for low-level breaches.”
And now it seems that this prediction is proving to be accurate.
Recent example
Earlier this month a small firm in Bristol was fined £23,000 and ordered to pay £1,350 costs for failing to comply with money laundering regulations -five files were found with no client or matter risk assessments following an SRA review.
This was even though the SRA accepted the firm had not acted dishonestly and no significant harm was caused by the failings. By way of mitigation, the firm had fully co-operated with the investigation, admitted failings and remedied the breaches but it still had to contend with the reputational damage of the fine being made public.
SRA has powers it is not afraid to use
The SRA has relatively new powers to issue automatic fixed penalty fines and its fining power increased to £25,000 in 2022.
Is your business as prepared as it can be?
So often, non-compliance happens because there aren’t enough of the right resources in the right place – employees are overworked and miss things; near-misses which could be a timely wake-up call go unnoticed and technical breaches are ignored, until it’s too late.
Law firms know that they can expect to receive routine attention and be inspected by the SRA from time to time so they need to make sure their houses are in order.
Would your law firm be ready for an SRA audit tomorrow?
How we can help you manage the risk of non-compliance
In our blog: Why risk and compliance issues matter more than ever for law firms we explained how Global BPO helps its clients mange compliance and why we think this is becoming even more important for law firms.
We offer a flexible, highly cost-effective, multi-layered risk and compliance solution. Law firms can choose which support best suits their needs. Sometimes this means starting with just one or two resources and then expanding over time. Others are looking for an all-encompassing solution from day one.
Our approach is always client-led
From an operational point of view, we receive training from our law firm clients regarding the rules, regulations and legislation that apply. We assist with the development and implementation of compliance processes and our teams regularly support training programmes for fee earners and the wider business. We assist the COLP and other responsible parties as they work to identify and mitigate risk and manage firm-wide compliance
It’s a big job
The compliance function in any law firm covers such a huge range of areas like cyber security, SRA requirements and specific rules relating to the many different services law firms offer for example, conveyancing, dispute resolution and employment.
It’s all too easy for things to slip through the net, just keeping up with what is needed requires significant resources – both technical and human, which are costly to put in place (assuming you can even find staff with the correct skillset).
We can provide a wide range of personnel from risk and compliance managers through to file administrators who provide much needed firm-wide support to ensure everything is covered as it should be.
Talk to us
With the regulatory landscape becoming increasingly tougher, no law firm can afford to be caught out.
Talk to us to find out how we could help your business manage its regulatory and compliance issues. For more information contact our Client Manager, Suzie Young, at: suzie@globalbpo.co.uk
