Application for authorisation to become a training establishment and application to become a training principal

Transcription

1 TC4 Application for authorisation to become a training establishment and application to become a training principal Please complete the following in BLOCK capitals. If you need any help completing this form, please contact us by telephone on If you are calling from overseas please use +44 (0) Our lines are open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: to 18.00, Tuesday: to Please note calls may be monitored/recorded for training purposes. Alternatively you can us at contactcentre@sra.org.uk. Section 1 Firm/organisation details Name of firm/ organisation Head office address SRA Id. Telephone no. Fax no. DX no. Town/city County DX town address of firm Postcode Country Training Contact name Training Contact SRA Id. Training Contact address Number of proposed trainees to be taken on at any one time Is your organisation a; Licensed Body Recognised Body Recognised sole practitioner If your organisation does not fall within one of these categories please answer the following questions:

2 Your organisation 1. Is your organisation a public body? Yes No 2. If you have answered no to the above, is your organisation regulated? Yes No If yes, please state the name of the organisation s regulatory body. 3. Does the organisation have an in-house legal department? Yes No If yes : (i) Will the trainee be based in the legal department? Yes No (ii) Please provide the number of solicitors in the legal department qualified in England and Wales 4. Please tick the box to confirm that your in-house solicitors and Registered European lawyers (RELs) comply with rule 4 of the SRA Practise Framework Rules 2011 Otherwise, provide a full explanation: 5. Please provide a list of proposed supervisors of the trainees: Supervisor s name Supervisor s name Supervisor s name Supervisor s name SRA Id SRA Id SRA Id SRA Id

3 The proposed training arrangements 6. What areas of legal work do you propose will be undertaken by the trainee(s)? 7. What percentage of the work undertaken under the proposed training contact(s) will be of a contentious nature? 8. Do you intend to second a trainee for any time period of the training contact? Yes No If yes please provide details. Section 2 Nominated training principal Surname SRA Id. Forename(s) Please confirm the individual s status at the firm. Please confirm the individual s job title. If the address for the training principal is different to the head office address please complete the details below. Name of firm/organisation Main office address SRA Id. Telephone no. Fax no. DX no. Town/city County DX town addres of individual Postcode Country

4 Section 3 Declaration (a) Training principal suitability 1 I hold a current practising certificate (PC) and have held immediately prior to this Yes No current PC four consecutive PC s 2 Do you have a condition on your current PC? Yes No 3 Have you had a condition on any previous PC s? Yes No 4 Have you ever been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT)? Yes No 5 Do you have any regulatory, conduct or disciplinary matters pending? Yes No If you have answered No to question 1 or Yes to any of questions 2-5, please provide a full statement setting out the details and provide an explanation of any previous regulatory conduct or disciplinary matters. The training establishment must provide training in accordance with the requirements set out on our website. Please indicate, by ticking the boxes, that you have read and understand the requirements. (b) Training requirements 6 I confirm that our firm/organisation operates in accordance with Chapter 2 of SRA Code of Conduct. 7 I agree to abide by the training contract requirements. 8 I agree to notify the SRA of any changes in the details submitted to the SRA. 9 The training establishment is able to provide training and experience in accordance with the Practice Skills Standards. 10 I confirm that all personnel involved in training issues will have/have had appropriate experience and/or training for the task. 11 I confirm that all training contracts will be in the form prescribed by the SRA and contain such terms and conditions as the SRA may from time to time prescribe, in accordance with the SRA Training Regulations. 12 I confirm that the training establishment will subscribe to the Voluntary Code of Yes No Good Practice This declaration must be completed by the proposed training principal On behalf of the above Training Establishment I hereby agree to abide by the SRA Training Regulations. Training Principal name SRA Id Firm/organisation name Firm SRA no. Training Principal Signature Date

5 Please return the application as follows: Please send the fully completed application form and payment of 100 to; Authorisation or DX Birmingham 47 Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) The Cube 199 Wharfside Street Birmingham B1 1RN Cheques should be made payable to The Law Society

6 For alternative formats, or telephone Guidance notes on form TC4: Application for authorisation to become a training establishment and application to become a training principal.

7 (i) About form TC4 Please use this form to make an application where; the organisation is seeking authorisation to take trainees solicitors; and the organisation is seeking approval to be re-authorised to take trainees solicitors with. In making an application to become a training establishment, you will also be making an application for approval of the nominated training principal. The TC4 form must be submitted to the SRA prior to the organisation taking on a trainee solicitor(s). Failure to gain approval before taking on a trainee solicitor will constitute a breach of Regulation 4.1 (a) of the SRA Training Provider Regulations Before completing the TC4 form please read the SRA Training Regulation Part 1 and Part Authorisation of a training establishment and of the training principal will commence from the date of our decision Why we only ask further questions of non-authorised bodies Under the Legal Services Act 2007, the SRA has an obligation to promote the regulatory objectives. One of the objectives is to encourage an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession. One of the ways the SRA seeks to promote this by ensuring that training establishments are suitable to train trainee solicitors. Where the applicant organisation is not authorised by the SRA, we require additional information upon the submission of the TC4 to assess whether the organisation has suitable arrangements in place for trainee solicitors. The Training Regulations require that training establishments provide training in at least three areas of law with a mix of contentious and non-contentious work. In order for us to assess whether this can be delivered we ask that organisations state the areas of law that they will offer experience in and also state how much of the trainees time will be spent on contentious/non contentious matters. A list of the areas of law is attached at Annexe A. You are reminded of your obligations under Regulation 2.3 (a) of the Training Provider Regulations 2011 which states; In order for you to be authorised, you must provide us with: Information about your organisation, body, firm, company, in-house practice or yourself as an individual; What do I do if I already have trainees? A training contract cannot be registered with the SRA until the training establishment has been granted authorisation to take trainee solicitors. A firm that has entered into a training contract without being authorised will be in breach of the SRA Training Regulations However, as to not prejudice the trainee, if a firm has entered into a training contract without being granted prior authorisation, then the firm can consider granting a period of good service to the trainee under Regulation 7 of the Training Regulations - Part 2. The maximum amount of time spent a training contract can granted as good service is six months. Please refer to the SRA Handbook for further details.

8 What happens after I submit the application? Once we receive your application we will undertake an initial assessment. Following this, we may determine that further consideration is required: In which case, you will be contacted with an explanation of what will happen next. How long will my organisation remain authorised as a training establishment? There is the potential for the SRA to grant authorisation to the organisation for the entire period the organisation remains in existence, until the organisation ceased to exist or we revoke the authorisation. Regulation 2 of the RSA Training regulation 2011 Part 2 Training provider Regulations states: 2.4 We may: (a) Declare an organisation, body, firm, company or individual to be a training establishment, subject to any conditions and for such period as we consider appropriate; Therefore, if we consider it appropriate to authorise the organisation for a shorter period of time will do so, fully explaining our reasons for this. If you wish to change your organisation s training principal, this much first be approved by us. You must complete a training principal declaration that can be downloaded for our website (ii) How to use form TC4 Please answer all sections. If you make an error during completion for the form, please put a line through any deletions. Do not use liquid paper. The declaration must be signed before submitting the form. (iii) Completing the form Section 1 Firm/organisation details Please provide details of the applicant body in this section. If your organisation is authorised by the SRA, authorisation as training establishment applies to the head office and all branch offices. The person authorised to make this application is the proposed training principal or authorised signatory. Training Contact The nominated a training contract, will need to have an SRA number to be added to our records. Automatically generated letters and applications will be marked for the attention of this person. The training contact may also sign certain training related applications in place of the training principal. The training contact does not need to be the same person as the nominated training principal and does not have to be a solicitor of England and Wales but should be someone you entrust to liaise with the SRA regarding trainee solicitors. If you are a n authorised body we recommend that your Compliance Office for Legal Practice (COLP) also acts as the organisation training contact. Proposed number of trainees In proposing the number of trainees you wish to take on, you should have regard to Regulation 6 of the SRA Training Regulations - Part 2 which states that each training establishment may take no more than two trainees for each partner or senior solicitor with a current and four previous consecutive practising certificates.

9 Type of organisation If your organisation does not fall within the description of a Licensed Body, Recognised Body or Recognised Sole Practitioner, please answer questions 1-10 detailed in Section 1. Otherwise, please go straight to section 2. Definitions of Licensed Body, Recognised Body or Recognised Sole Practitioner can be found in the Glossary (Annexe B). Your organisation Question 1 & 2. A public body includes, for example, government bodies, quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations and local authorities. This is not an exhaustive list. Regulated in this context means controlled or governed by a regulator according to rules, principles or statute. Question 3. A legal department in this context means a department, team or unit which is dedicates to dealing with legal issues, which is staffed by lawyers. Question 4. Please refer to the SRA Handbook, available on-line, for details of Rule 4 of the Practise Framework Rules Please confirm that your in-house solicitors and registered European lawyers comply with these rules. Question 5. Regulation 16 of the Training Regulations - Part 2 sets out the responsibilities of supervisors of trainees. Please ensure that the proposed supervisors meet the criteria in the regulations. Regulation 16 provides; 16.1 Regulation 16 applies to supervisors, and you should be construed accordingly Supervisors must be either: (a) partners, directors, managers, members or other equivalent status; (b) associate solicitors; (c) assistant solicitors; (d) experienced legal executives; or (e) barristers If you supervise a trainee, you must ensure that, over the course of his or her training, the amount and type of work given to the trainee: (a) (b) adequately covers each skill within the Practice Skills Standards; and is of an appropriate level and complexity for the trainee. Question 6. A list of areas of legal work can be found in Annexe A. We would expect you to provide at least three areas of law. Question 7. Please state the percentage of the work undertaken by the trainee will be of a contentious nature. You do not need to provide an exact figure. Contentious work is defined as work done in or for the purposes of proceedings begun before a court or arbitrator.

10 Question 8. Please provide details of any proposed secondments. In providing details, please refer to Regulation 11 of the Training Regulations - Part 2, which states that you must ensure the secondment complies with requirements in regulation 10. The SRA training regulations 2011 can be viewed Section 2 Nominated training principal You are asked to specify the details of the nominated training principal. An authorised training establishment must have an individual who has been approved by the SRA to act as the training principal. This individual must meet the definition as stated in the SRA Glossary: training principal means any solicitor who: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) holds a current practising certificate; has help immediately prior to a current practising certificate four consecutive practising certificates; is nominated by a training establishment as such; is a partner, manager, director, owner or has equivalent seniority and/or managerial status; and has undertaken such training as we prescribe; and for the purpose of (ii) above a solicitor who has been an REL for a continuous period before their admission as a solicitor can use each complete year of registration as the equivalent of having held one practising certificate. A Government Legal Service solicitor with appropriate seniority, experience and training will be exempt for the practising certificate requirements for training principal. If your organisation is not an SRA authorised firm, the training principal will need to be of equivalent status to a Manager (i.e. partner, director, member). Please therefore state the individual s job title. We may contact you further to obtain additional information about the nominated training principals status. Section 3 Declaration The proposed training principal is required to read the information contained in Section 3, tick the boxes, sign and date the declaration. Failure to do so may result in the application being returned to you and a subsequent delay in processing the application. Voluntary Code to Good Practice Further details of what the Voluntary Code to Good Practice is and how this applies to taking on and training trainee solicitors can be found by the link below; Section 4 Returning the application After fully completing the TC4 form, please sent the application and payment of 100 to; Finance Department Solicitors Regulation Authority The Cube 199 Wharfside street Birmingham B1 1RN Cheques should be made payable to the Law Society.

11 Annexe A Areas of Law Business Affairs Advocacy Military Law Charity Law Consumer Problems Conveyaning Residential Commercial Property Crime General, Motoring, Juvenile Debt & Money Advice Environmental Law Employment Family Landlord & Tenant Residential Immigration Law Education Law Medical Negligence Mental Health Neighbour Disputes Personal Injury Welfare Benefits Wills & Probate Taxation Trust Liquor Licensing/Gaming Insurance European Community Law Financial & Investments Services Children Law Pension Law Administrative & Public Law Agricultural Law Aviation Law Banking Law Chancery Civil Liberties/Human Rights Common Law Mediation - Family Computer and IT Law Construction/Civil Engineering Corporate Finance Energy & Natural Resources Mediation Civil/Commercial Fraud Insolvency & Bankruptcy International Law (non-ec) Libel & Defamation Maritime/Shipping/Admiralty Mergers & Acquisitions Planning Law Professional Negligence Transport Road & Rail Travel & Tourism

12 Annexe B Glossary Sole practitioner firms means a solicitor or an REL practising a s sole principal and does not include a solicitor or an REL practising in-house, say for the purposes of the SRA account rules, the SRA indemnity insurance rule where references to practising are to be given their natural meaning. Licensed bodies means a body licensed by the SRA under Part 5 of the Legal Services Act (LSA). Recognised bodies means a body recognised by the SRA under section 9 of the Administration of Justice Act (AJA) 1986.