Compliance Plans

SRA Compliance is easy with our simple step by step approach…?

The nominations for the COLP and COFA are in… or are they?

• Nominated their Compliance Officers; for Legal Practice (COLP) and for Finance and Administration (COFA).
• Confirm that they have suitable compliance arrangements in place to meet the new Outcomes Focused Regulations (OFR).

At Esterase we have successfully managed the delivery of these compliance processes for our clients by our simple step by step approach.

Have you been nominated as a Compliance Officer?
Do you understand your responsibilities?
Can you personally confirm to the SRA that you haveadequate
compliance arrangements in place?
Do you have the time to get this all in place?

Firms that have instructed Esterase to review their compliance arrangements and to support the administration of them on an on-going basis have reported the following benefits:

• Additional peace of mind for the COLP, COFA and for the partners as a whole
• Reduction in time spent by Partners and Compliance Officers in administering compliance matters thereby minimising the impact on fee earning.
• Introduction of tailored policies or procedures that are practical, simple to manage and relevant to your firm’s compliance requirements. (Including business plans and risk registers).
• The opportunity to have on-going support for the COFA and COLP providing both practical administration and mentoring, particularly when dealing with potential material breaches.
• If you are a sole practitioner or small practice being able to show to PI insurers that you have additional expert support to deal with these issues reduces the risk of insuring you in their eyes and can reduce the cost of premiums.

So how does it work in practice…

• Once you contact us we will carry out an initial free of consultation on your current position and the likely work required to get you up to speed.
• We will then provide you with a clear fixed price proposal for the initial work to bring you up to the requirements of the OFR and costs for on-going support.
• Once we have your go ahead we will visit to fully assess the current procedures and policies that are in place. These will be compared against actual working practices.
• We will identify the gaps in the compliance arrangements and the requirements of the SRA Code and Accounts Rules.
• We will adapt or develop existing practices to meet the OFR, using our existing precedents tailored to you firm’s actual processes to keep the costs to a minimum.
• Once approved with your compliance officer and management team we will implement the introduction of the new policies, procedures and registers. We will also provide training to explain the reasons for any changes their importance to the whole practice.
  

To discuss how we can help please contact Alex von der Heyde
on 08455 199149 or email alex.vdh@esterase.co.uk