The circumstances in which you require a practising certificate are governed by rule 20.01 of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007 ("the Code").

If you are taking a temporary break or have retired from practice, but you remain on the roll, then depending on what you are doing, you may still require a practising certificate in accordance with the rule.

The following information deals with the principal practising certificate-related issues which arise when taking a temporary break, or retiring from practice. If, having read the information, you are still not sure of your position, you can get further help by contacting the Professional Ethics team.

See rule 20, note 16. You can make it clear that you are not practising by adding words such as "retired" or "non-practising". However, this means that you cannot undertake ANY legal work, so bear in mind that if you were asked to do the odd bit of work for the firm, you would be taken to be practising by virtue of section 1A and would have to have a practising certificate—see Working in private practice, but not as a solicitor. 

Provided you are on the roll, you may still describe yourself as "solicitor", despite not having a practising certificate, but only in situations where there is no implication that you are entitled to practise as a solicitor—see rule 20, notes 6—8.

For example, it would not be improper to be described as a solicitor in the context of giving a lecture on the law. However, if you were a director of a housing charity which, as part of its activities, gave legal advice to members of the public, you should ensure that any description of you as a solicitor is qualified by words such as "non-practising", even if you yourself do not give legal advice.

You may do legal work for friends and relatives without a practising certificate, but not in your capacity as a solicitor. You should explain this to your friend or relative at the outset, together with the fact that you are not covered by professional indemnity insurance.

If you refer to your qualification as a solicitor, (for example, in correspondence with a third party), you should make the position clear by adding words such as "non-practising", "uncertificated" or "retired".

Please bear in mind that without a practising certificate, you are restricted in the type of legal work you can do. For details, see rule 20, note 10.

The effect of section 1A of the Solicitors Act 1974 means that you cannot take up any position in private practice (e.g. as a paralegal) which would involve you in the provision of legal services unless you have a practising certificate. See rule 20, notes 11 and 12 .

This is so even if:

• you are not held out as a solicitor; or
• you only do work which an unqualified person could do; or
• you are doing the work without payment; or
• you are only employed on a temporary or occasional basis (e.g. as holiday cover)

Section 1A will not apply if your work is unconnected to the provision of legal services.

Examples of the effect of section 1A:

• If you are employed as a secretary, you should have a practising certificate if you work for fee-earners. However, you would not need a practising certificate if, for example, you only undertook work for the Human Resources Department.
• If you are employed as the firm's practice manager, you should have a practising certificate if your responsibilities include any supervision of fee-earners or dealing with complaints relating to the handling of client matters.
• If you are employed as the firm's librarian or to provide practice support, you should have a practising certificate if you do any of the following:
  • undertake research in connection with client matters;
  • draft or keep updated legal precedents;
  • select, adapt or direct fee-earners to precedents.
  • If you are employed as a bookkeeper in the firm's accounts department, you should have a practising certificate if your responsibilities include entering information on to the accounts system in compliance with the Solicitors' Accounts Rules.
  • If you are employed to carry out conflict checks, this is part of the legal service provided to the clients of the firm and you will therefore need a practising certificate.

If you were to come off the roll, you would no longer be a solicitor and section 1A will not therefore apply. However:

• you must not be described as a solicitor (although you could be described as a "former solicitor" or "retired former solicitor"), nor could you use any term such as "consultant" or "assistant" which, when used in private practice, is taken to indicate that the person is a solicitor or lawyer.
• you would be in the same position as an unqualified clerk and would no longer be entitled to do reserved work in your own right. You could only provide conveyancing or probate services provided the work was done at the direction and under the supervision of a practising solicitor. You could also appear in chambers in the county court or the high court provided you did so under instructions given by a qualified litigator;
• before returning to practice as a solicitor, you would have to apply to go back on the roll. 

Unless a document is one which requires witnessing by a practising solicitor, you do not need a practising certificate either to witness or to certify a document. If you are in any doubt, you may wish to check the position with the person who prepared the document. However, to avoid any possibility of misleading the person signing the document or any recipient of the document, it is advisable to describe yourself as a retired or non-practising solicitor.

If you are an executor or trustee you will normally have been appointed in your professional capacity, as a solicitor. If you continue to act as a professional executor or trustee, you will still be practising as a solicitor, and you should:

• (i) hold a practising certificate;
• (ii) comply with the indemnity insurance rules;
• (iii) comply with the accounts rules in relation to client money and controlled trust money; and
• (iv) continue to submit accountant's reports.

If you have been appointed executor or trustee in a purely personal, and not in a professional, capacity you can continue to act even if you do not hold a practising certificate.

If you were appointed as a professional executor or trustee, and intend to stop holding a practising certificate, you should consider whether you wish to cease acting as such and take the appropriate steps, or whether to continue to act in a private capacity.

If you continue acting in a private capacity, i.e. not as a solicitor, you will need to:

• (i) stop charging for work done;
• (ii) stop referring to yourself as a "solicitor" in connection with the estate or trust;
• (iii) notify all parties with whom you are dealing in connection with the estate or trust (not only co-trustees and beneficiaries, but accountants, banks, etc.) that you will no longer be undertaking the work as a solicitor; and
• (iv) explain to any co-trustees and beneficiaries the principal effects of your ceasing to be a practising solicitor—particularly the position regarding professional indemnity, and charging as a professional trustee or executor.

Your conduct as trustee or executor should be to the standard of a practising solicitor, even if you are not acting in your professional capacity. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has jurisdiction over solicitors without practising certificates (including former solicitors who have had their names removed from the roll, in relation to things done while on the roll).

If you have retired from practice but remain on the roll and you set up a non-solicitor business which provides services of a legal nature, you may, depending on the circumstances, be explicitly or implicitly practising as a solicitor through that business. If so, then you will need a practising certificate (see rule 20.01) and the business will need to comply with the requirements of a solicitor's practice.

There are three points to consider:

1. Does the business do any reserved activities?

See rule 20, note 10 for guidance on reserved work. If the business does any reserved activities, then it cannot be a non-solicitor business. You must have a practising certificate and the business will be a solicitor's practice regulated by the SRA and must comply with the rules.

2. Does the name of the firm imply that it is a solicitor's practice?

a) Names which indicate a solicitor's practice

• The inclusion of the words "solicitor", "attorney", "lawyer", "counsel", "law practice" or "law firm" in the name of the firm explicitly holds the firm out as a lawyer's practice.
• Unless, therefore, you have another qualification as a solicitor, lawyer or barrister and you are entitled to practice under that other qualification, you will be practising as a solicitor and the business will be deemed to be a solicitor's practice, subject to the SRA's rules and regulation. In the case of "solicitor", the jurisdiction of your qualification as an overseas solicitor would always have to be made clear.
• The implication that it is a lawyer's practice cannot be negated by adding words such as "non-practising solicitors" on the firm's notepaper.

b) Names which tend to indicate a solicitor's practice

The inclusion of any of the following terms in the business name will tend to indicate that you are practising as a solicitor and that it is therefore a solicitor's practice:

• legal adviser(s)
• legal affairs
• legal associate(s)
• legal consultant(s)
• legal expert(s)
• legal partners
• legal service(s)
• law office

• It is inadvisable for these terms to be incorporated into the name of the business unless it is made clear on the business' notepaper that it is not a solicitor's practice (e.g. by adding words such as "non-practising solicitor", "retired solicitor", "former legal practitioner", "we are not a law firm", "this business is not a law practice").

c) Names which include reference to a legal service which could include both reserved and unreserved work

Names which incorporate a reference to a service which normally includes both reserved and unreserved activities could suggest that the business is a solicitor's practice e.g.:

• employment advocacy, because, whilst employment advocacy before employment tribunals is not reserved work, employment advocacy before the EAT or the courts is reserved;
• probate services, because whilst the administration of an estate is not reserved work, obtaining a grant of probate or letters of administration is.
• These terms should not be incorporated into the name of the business unless it is made clear on the business' notepaper that it is not a solicitor's practice (e.g. by adding words such as "non-practising solicitor", "retired solicitor", "former legal practitioner", "we are not a law firm", "this business is not a law practice")
• A name which refers to work which is always reserved should never be used, e.g. "Employment litigation".

d) Names which do not indicate a solicitor's practice

• The inclusion in the title of the business of a legal service which comprises solely unreserved work will not, in itself, usually indicate that it is a solicitor's practice, e.g. any reference to will writing or employment tribunal advocacy.
• The inclusion of any of the following terms in the name of the business will not, in itself, usually indicate that the solicitor is practising or that the business is a solicitor's practice:
  • associates (other than legal associates)
  • consultant(s) (other than legal consultant(s))

3. Are you, as the proprietor, held out as a solicitor, either explicitly or implicitly?

If you are held out, either explicitly or implicitly, as a practising solicitor in connection with the business, then you are likely to be practising as a solicitor through that business. If so, the business will need to comply with the requirements of a solicitor's practice.

a) Descriptions which explicitly hold a solicitor out as practising but in relation to which the holding out could be negated

• If you are described as a "solicitor", "lawyer" or "attorney" you must have a practising certificate unless:
• you are dually qualified as a solicitor or lawyer of another jurisdiction and you indicate the jurisdiction concerned; or
• you make it clear that you are not practising by qualifying the description with words such as "non-practising", "uncertificated" or "retired".
• For this purpose, "qualification as a lawyer" means a qualification as a barrister, or as a member of any of the professions referred to in the Establishment Directive, or a member of one of the professions approved by the SRA for the purpose of entering into an MNP, or a member of some other profession accepted by the SRA as a legal profession.

b) Descriptions which explicitly hold a solicitor out as practising and in relation to which the holding out cannot be negated:

• "Counsel" (or any term including that word) inherently means a practising lawyer and this cannot be negated by terms such as "non-practising".
• However, if you have another qualification as a lawyer and you are entitled to practice under that qualification, the description can be used without meaning that you are practising as a solicitor. (For "qualification as a lawyer", see above).

c) Terms which tend to implicitly hold a solicitor out as practising:

• legal adviser
• legal associate
• legal consultant
• legal executive
• legal expert
• legal specialist

You are therefore strongly advised not to use these terms unless you make it clear that you are not practising by adding words such as "non-practising solicitor", "retired solicitor", "non-practising lawyer", "retired lawyer" or "former legal practitioner".

Note: If you are a solicitor who no longer practises but have chosen to continue to hold a practising certificate, then if you employ any solicitors in connection with the provision of legal services, those solicitors will be deemed to be practising by virtue of section 1A of the Solicitors Act 1974. They would have to have a practising certificate and would also be subject to rule 12.01(1)(f). In most cases, this would prevent them from providing legal services to your customers.