Scope of indemnity

You are reading current version in effect from 1 October 2023
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You are reading current version in effect from 1 October 2023

Glossary terms

person

includes a body of persons (corporate or unincorporated)

solicitor

means a person who has been admitted as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales and whose name is on the roll.

REL

means a European lawyer registered in the register of European lawyers

RFL

means a foreign lawyer registered in the register of foreign lawyers

partnership

means a body that is not a body corporate in which persons are, or are held out as, partners

recognised body

means a body recognised by the SRA under section 9 of the AJA

licensed body

means a body licensed by the SRA under section 71(2) of the LSA in accordance with the SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules

regulated activity

means

  1. any reserved legal activity;
  2. any non-reserved legal activity except, in relation to an MDP, any such activity that is excluded on the terms of the licence;
  3. any other activity in respect of which a licensed body is regulated pursuant to Part 5 of the LSA.
regulated person
has the meaning given by section 21 of the LSA
Indemnity Fund

means the fund maintained in accordance with the SRA Indemnity Fund Rules.

claim

means a demand for, or an assertion of a right to, civil compensation or civil damages or an intimation of an intention to seek such compensation or damages. For these purposes, an obligation on an insured firm and/or any insured to remedy a breach of the SRA Accounts Rules, or any rules which replace them in whole or in part, shall be treated as a claim, and the obligation to remedy such breach shall be treated as a civil liability for the purposes of clause 1 of the MTC, whether or not any person makes a demand for, or an assertion of a right to, civil compensation or civil damages or an intimation of an intention to seek such compensation or damages as a result of such breach, except where any such obligation may arise as a result of the insolvency of a bank (as defined in section 87 of the SA) or a building society which holds client money in a client account of the insured firm or the failure of such bank or building society generally to repay monies on demand

private legal practice

means (unless paragraph (ii) of this definition applies):

  1. the provision of services in private practice as a solicitor or REL in an authorised body including, without limitation:
    1. providing such services in England, Wales or anywhere in the world in a recognised sole practice, a recognised body or a licensed body (in respect of an activity regulated by the SRA in accordance with the terms of the body's licence);
    2. the provision of such services as a secondee of the insured firm;
    3. any insured acting as a personal representative, trustee, attorney, notary, insolvency practitioner or in any other role in conjunction with a practice;
    4. the provision of such services by any employee; and
    5. the provision of such services pro bono;

    but does not include:

    1. discharging the functions of any of the following offices or appointments:
      1. judicial office;
      2. Under Sheriffs;
      3. members and clerks of such tribunals, committees, panels and boards as the Council may from time to time designate but including those subject to the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992, the Competition Commission, Legal Services Commission Review Panels, Legal Aid Agency Review Panels and Parole Boards;
      4. Justices' Clerks; or
      5. Superintendent Registrars and Deputy Superintendent Registrars of Births, Marriages and Deaths and Registrars of Local Crematoria
  2. in the SRA Indemnity Fund Rules, means the provision of services in private practice as a solicitor or REL in an authorised body including, without limitation:
    1. providing such services in England, Wales or anywhere in the world in a recognised sole practice, a recognised body or a licensed body (in respect of an activity regulated by the SRA in accordance with the terms of the body's licence);
    2. the provision of such services as a secondee of the insured firm;
    3. any insured acting as a personal representative, trustee, attorney, notary, insolvency practitioner or in any other role in conjunction with a practice;
    4. the provision of such services by any employee; and
    5. the provision of such services pro bono;

    but does not include:

    1. discharging the functions of any of the following offices or appointments:
      1. judicial office;
      2. Under Sheriffs;
      3. members and clerks of such tribunals, committees, panels and boards as the Council may from time to time designate but including those subject to the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992, the Competition Commission, Legal Services Commission Review Panels, Legal Aid Agency Review Panels and Parole Boards;
      4. Justices' Clerks; or
      5. Superintendent Registrars and Deputy Superintendent Registrars of Births, Marriages and Deaths and Registrars of Local Crematoria
    2. practice to the extent that any fees or other income accruing do not accrue to the benefit of the practice carrying on such practice (except where a solicitor notary operates such notarial practice in conjunction with a solicitor's practice, whether or not the notarial fees accrue to the benefit of the solicitor's practice);
    3. practice by a solicitor or REL in the course of his or her employment with an employer other than a solicitor, REL, recognised body, licensed body or partnership such as is referred to in Rule 6.1(d) to 6.1(f) of the SRA Indemnity Fund Rules; in which connection and for the avoidance of doubt:
      1. any such solicitor or REL does not carry on private legal practice when he or she acts in the course of his or her employment for persons other than his or her employer;
      2. any such solicitor or REL does not carry on private legal practice merely because he or she uses in the course of his or her employment a style of stationery or description which appears to hold him or her out as a principal or solicitor or foreign lawyer in private legal practice; or
      3. any practice carried on by such a solicitor outside the course of his or her employment will constitute private legal practice.