3. Obtaining Instructions Flashcards
General principles
In seeking to attract new work or otherwise increase the firm’s income, a solicitor must not do
anything or enter into any arrangement that would compromise the solicitor’s ……. (Principle 4)
or restrict the solicitor from acting in the …… …. …… (Principle 7).
For example, a firm may
be offered a large financial incentive to refer all clients requiring advice on financial services
to a particular firm of brokers. However, the firm must ….. accept this offer if it would prevent
the solicitors acting in the ….. ……. of their clients.
Independence
client’s best interests
Not
Best interest
Advertising
Solicitors are generally free to publicise their ….. provided they comply with both the
general law and the requirements of …… …….
practice
Professional conduct
General law
Such information must not be misused. The General Data Protection Regulation
(EU) 2016/ 679 (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) require those who are
……. or …….. of personal information to handle it in particular ways, and
impose penalties on processors who are in breach of their duties.
‘controllers’ or ‘processors’
General law
Controlling means determining the …… and …… in which personal data is processed.
Processing includes collecting, recording, organising, storing and disclosing such information, whether by automated or manual methods.
Personal information is defined in the GDPR as ‘any information relating to an identified or identifiable ….. ……’
Purpose and manner
Natural person
Professional conduct requirements - General Provision
Para 8.8 You ensure that any …… in relation to your practice is accurate and not misleading, including that relating to your …… and the circumstances in which interest is payable by or to ……..
publicity
charges
clients
SRA Transparency Rules require firms to publish certain
information about the ….. of those services. (There’s a certain list of services it applies to)
costs
Unsolicited approaches (…….)
A solicitor may wish to ‘…. …..’ individuals in order to promote the solicitor’s business.
Paragraph 8.9 prohibits a solicitor from making …… approaches to members of the
public in order to …… their legal services. However, there is an exception in respect of
…… or …… clients in order to advertise legal services provided by the firm or solicitor.
Advertising)
Cold call
unsolicited
advertise
current
former
Unsolicited approaches
Paragraph 8.9 is intended to …… direct or specifically targeted approaches to members
of the public in person, by phone or other means. A newspaper advertisement is in a sense an ‘unsolicited’ approach, but it would not be caught by Paragraph 8.9 because it is not an individual or targeted approach and so could not be regarded as intrusive.
prevent
Unsolicited approaches (advertising) to members of the public, the SRA
draws a distinction between sending leaflets to all homes in a large geographic area
and selectively distributing leaflets to only specific homes or individuals based on wider
information. The former is permitted because it would not be a ……. approach.
Targeted
Letterheads, websites and emails
A solicitor must not be a manager, employee, member or interest holder of a business that
has a name which includes the word ‘solicitors’ or describes its work in a way that suggests
that it is a solicitors’ firm unless it is a body ……. by the SRA (Paragraph 5.4).
The …….. …….. require that a body authorised by the SRA must display in a
prominent place on its website its SRA number and the SRA’s ‘…… ……’ (which confirms
that it is regulated and links to information on the protections this offers its clients). In addition,
its letterhead and emails must show its SRA authorisation …… and the words ‘authorised
and regulated by the Solicitors Regulations Authority’.
Authorised
Transparency rules
Digital badge
Number
Arrangement with third parties
A client may be introduced to the solicitor by a third party. The term ‘………’ is defined in
the SRA Glossary as ‘any person, business or organisation who or that introduces or refers
clients to your business, or recommends your business to clients or otherwise puts you and clients in touch with one another’.
Any client referred to the solicitor by an introducer must not have been acquired in a way which would breach the SRA’s regulatory arrangements if the
person acquiring the client were regulated by the SRA (Paragraph 5.1(e)).
So, for example, the client must not have been acquired as a result of ‘….. ….. ’. The client must be informed of any financial or other interest which the introducer has in introducing the client to the solicitor
(Paragraph 5.1(a)).
Introducer
Cold calling
…. …. would occur if a solicitor made a payment to a third party in respect of a percentage of the solicitor’s gross or net fees for a particular period. Clients must be informed of any fee- sharing arrangement that is relevant to their matter, and the fee- sharing agreement
must be in writing (Paragraph 5.1(b) and (c)).
Fee sharing
Under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), the ….. or …… of referral fees in claims for damages following personal
injury or death is prohibited.
Payment or receipt
