Top 10 Tips to Build an Effective Supervisory Regime in Your Law Firm 

In November 2022, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) published guidance on what they consider to constitute effective supervision in law firms.

Here are Hopkins Legal Consulting’s Top 10 tips to ensure compliance with the SRA guidance and build an effective supervisory regime in your law firm:

1. Use a risk-based approach when deciding on appropriate supervision arrangements in your firm – who will supervise the work? How many people they will supervise? How much of each person’s work a supervisor will they see? How often will they communicate? How much supervision will take place face to face,rather than remotely is for each firm to decide using a risk based approach? Please note that for legal aid work mandatory contract terms will operate and govern supervisory arrangements. 

2. Supervisors do not have to be at partner level – you should use a risk-based approach in deciding who has the requisite experience to become a supervisor at their firm. 

3. In deciding how many supervisors are needed for an area of work, consider carefully how many people each supervisor will be able to supervise effectively. If your business model is based on junior staff carrying out high risk work, you should resource its supervision accordingly. 

4. A fee earner’s supervisor may be their line manager but does not have to be. Supervision is a specific legal and regulatory requirement to ensure the appropriate delivery of legal services – while line management has a wider role including professional development and wellbeing. 

5. Partners and Consultants cannot opt out of the supervision requirement – appropriate supervision should be in place for all fee earners in the firm irrespective of their seniority. 

6. Ensure that supervision always includes an element of direct discussion between the supervisee and supervisor, as well as reviews of documents and other work done. 

7. Supervisors should see enough of the work of those they are supervising to be satisfied that the overall quality of work, and the risks relating to the work are being managed appropriately.  If the work is high risk the supervisor might need to have some awareness of every file. Where work is broadly low risk and standardised, it might be reasonable for the supervisor to see only a sample of work. 

8. Ensure the management of your firm take proactive steps to ensure supervision is working effectively throughout the firm, and supervisors are accountable. This will require a degree of oversight and review of the supervisory regime in place on a regular basis. 

9. Ensure you are able to evidence the supervision arrangements you choose for each area of work, and the risk-based reasons for the approach you have taken. Document your supervisory arrangements and the outcome of supervision reviews, to be able to justify your decisions. 

10. Treat supervision seriously. The SRA may consider a serious failure to meet the supervision requirements set out in the Code of Conduct as grounds for enforcement action, thus resulting in a fine, even if that failure has not resulted in direct harm to clients. 

If you would like to discuss any of the themes in this blog please contact  ih@hopkinslegalconsulting.co.uk or call 0791 666 9095.  

Read the SRA guidance mentioned at the top of this blog here.