Technology plays and important role in training today's solicitor

The SRA’s recent decision to abolish the requirement for solicitors to complete 16 hours of mandatory training is a move into the modern age for the profession. Things have changed since 1985 when the continuing professional development regime was introduced and the new system of continuing compliance heralds another era.

Now, training must be specific to each individual solicitor. After all, they are the best judge of what is needed to ensure competence. It will depend
on three variables: their role in the organisation; company
type, ranging from a sole practitioner in a small market town to a multimillion pound international law practice; and the area of practice, which is anything from family law to shipping litigation.

Training can be fast, modern and relevant; technology can play an important part. No longer will solicitors, in effect, be forced to sit in a hotel room for six hours, perhaps listening to courses that have little or no relevance to their own work just to tot up the required hours. Instead, training can be done on mobiles and iPads in the lunch hour or on the commute home.

The new regime will give greater flexibility for training to be completed in small, bite-size chunks. For example, updates in law may only require 15 minutes of study. Provided the solicitor properly logs what they have done, it will contribute to competency requirements.

Training for tomorrow

This historic announcement for the profession follows the publication of the Legal Education and Training Review report last July and the SRA’s October report Training for Tomorrow, which focused
on bringing an end to the one-size-fits-all and tick-box approach to training.

The regulator was pressing
for greater flexibility by pushing for complete self-assessment, with the focus shifted towards competence. In papers published before last week’s announcement, the SRA recommended this option to its board. Two other options, which left much responsibility for CPD with the SRA, were rejected.

I believe this bold decision
will be a huge boost to the training industry, allowing us
to be more modern and creative with our methods of learning.
It really does make the current system seem old-fashioned and unsatisfactory, particularly given how varied and complex different roles are within the legal profession.

The new regime allows the individual to create education and training programmes
that match their personal
needs to ensure competency. This contrasts with the old regime, which meant merely turning up at a course to satisfy compliance requirements.

Time to change

It is now the responsibility of law firms to ensure they are on top of the new legislation in time
for the switchover. Legal organisations must have proper systems in place to show that solicitors have reflected on what education and training they need. They need to record thinking processes then
what actual education and training they have undertaken – preferably with some
self-assessment.

There is almost joint and several liability for competence compliance. Law firms must have training systems and solicitors must make sure that they, as individuals, are competent.

The new proposals won’t come into force until November 2016 and the SRA will not be giving full guidance until autumn 2014. Firms can opt-in to the new competency system from the spring of 2015 or they can continue with the 16 hours regulation until the end of October 2016.

The schedule offers legal entities and individual solicitors time to adjust. However, they must remember that the old regime is still in place and ensure that they complete
their CPD hours. SJ

Mark Solon is director of Central Law Training

Watch Mark’s interview with Julie Brannan, SRA director of education and training