Professional Legal Studies staff consulted by Solicitors’ Regulation Authority

Centre for Professional Legal Studies staff were recently invited to a meeting of the Board of the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA).

Professor Angela Devereux, Byron Jones and David Dixon were all asked to contribute to a ‘Meet the Board’ event which took place on 12 October and was hosted by Cardiff and District Law Society President, Paul Hopkins.

SRA chair, Enid Rowland and members of the Board were eager to learn more about the priorities and concerns of solicitors across England and Wales. To that end, the meeting was organised as an opportunity to speak to a wide range of local law society members and officeholders.

The event drew a discerning and critical audience with the discussion ranging across compliance and intervention matters. There was also a strong focus on SRA plans for changes to the training framework for aspiring solicitors.

Contributors with widely differing views, on the necessity for a graduate profession or the appropriateness of centrally set assessments for example, shared their concerns and beliefs.

Despite those differences, and in drawing the event to a close, CDLS president Paul Hopkins pointed out that the SRA Board and the Society’s members had the same prime motivation: the continuance of a widely respected, high calibre profession offering excellent service to both individuals and the business community.