SRA Update
Check your referral arrangements
SRA Update Issue 6 – October 2008
We continue to be concerned by breaches of the rules relating to referral arrangements.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal recently fined a practice for breach of the Solicitors' Account Rules and the Solicitors' Code of Conduct, which should act as a timely reminder to check your own arrangements.
Hindle Campbell of North Shields was fined £10,000 for accepting referrals from the Mining Compensation Society—a company occupying the same premises and acting as solicitors for compensation claims, unbeknown to either the then Department for Trade and Industry or the clients.
To make sure that anyone providing you with a referral is properly regulated and that you're not in breach of the Code of Conduct, visit www.sra.org.uk/referrals or call our Ethics Helpline.