Seven firms sign up for second wave of relationship management pilot
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has announced that a further seven law firms are to take part in the second wave of their relationship management (RM) pilot in preparation for the introduction of outcomes-focused regulation in October.
Over the coming months the SRA’s dedicated Relationship Management Team will be working with the group of firms ranging from a global practice to a sole practitioner, to establish how the proposed new model of supervision will work in practice.
The RM pilot has already been running for approximately twelve weeks with the first wave of firms to understand their business models, governance arrangements and their risk management and compliance arrangements.
Relationship Manager David Whitney said:
“We are delighted with our initial meetings with the pilot firms and the constructive approach they have taken to our dialogue to date and are pleased that we can progress this project with the second wave of firms.
“So far we have considered specific risks associated with conflicts, confidentiality and financial stability and we have also identified a number of potential risks with document management systems.
“We are now interested in hearing from other firms who would like to take part in our pilot for our third and final pilot group.”
The SRA has agreed to keep the names of the firms selected confidential but they include:-
- one of a new wave of global firms;
- two international firms with significantly different business models;
- a large city-based full-service firm;
- a medium-sized consumer-focused firm in the North West ;
- a small start-up commercial firm in Central London, and
- a start-up sole practitioner in Kent specialising in family law.
Firms interested in taking part in the third wave of the pilot should email relationshipmanagers@sra.org.uk
More information about the relationship management pilot is available at www.sra.org.uk/RM-pilot.