Newsletter – September 2020

From the CEO

It’s hard to believe that the summer is already behind us. At the CLSB, autumn means getting ready for practising certificate renewals, alongside our other regulatory and project work. Renewing your practising certificate will look a bit different this year. The process should be quicker, easier and more convenient.

This year, you will be able to renew your practising certificate online. You will recognise many elements of the application form from previous years; we still need to know who you are, where you work, information about your practice and clients, and any disclosures you need to make. We will ask you to input the CPD activities you have carried out in 2020 and you will be able to upload documents, including your insurance policy and complaints procedure.

We decided to move away from paper-based applications for a host of reasons, ranging from the (amazingly high!) number of documents that get lost in the post, to the cost and environmental impact of printing and postage, to the enhanced data security and accuracy of an automated system. We hope you will find the new process much more convenient, but if you experience problems at any stage please contact us.

You will receive your application form – which is unique to you – by email at the start of November. We will also use your email address to confirm your application and issue your practising certificate. I’m sure you can see why, this year more than ever, it is imperative that we have a current and reliable email address for you. If you need to update your info between now and November please email [email protected]. There’s more on this in the Regulatory News section below.

We will also be asking you to provide diversity data alongside your practising certificate application. Please be assured that the information you provide will not be linked in any way to your application and you will always be able to select a “prefer not to say” option. We appreciate your help in ensuring a strong, diverse and inclusive profession.

Kate Wellington

CEO

Regulatory News

CJC needs your help on guideline hourly rates

The Civil Justice Council is conducting a review of the guideline hourly rates. They are looking for evidence of what is allowed by Regional Costs Judges as well as SCCO Costs Judges and authorised court officers on detailed assessments (including provisional assessments) that they undertake.

The starting point for the CJC’s review is to understand what Costs Judges in fact allow across a range of cases. They are therefore asking Costs Lawyers to complete this form for any costs assessments they are involved with between 1 September 2020 and 27 November 2020.

They are also looking for information about assessments that took place between 1 April and 31 August 2020. If you are able to provide evidence for that period, please email [email protected] and they will provide you with more information and the relevant forms.

In calling for evidence, Mr Justice Stewart said: “It is difficult to overestimate the importance of your help in this regard. Your professional experience, reflected in the supply of information, will serve to guide the working group in producing its report. If the recommendations in the report are accepted, the benefit to the judiciary, the legal profession and court users as a whole will be very substantial.”

CPD changes approved by oversight regulator

Earlier this year we consulted on changes to the CPD regime for Costs Lawyers. The Legal Services Board has now approved the proposed changes, which will come into force on 1 January 2021.

The changes will give Costs Lawyers more flexibility and choice around how they carry out CPD. You will need to ensure that your CPD activities are relevant to your individual development needs, by setting learning objectives and reflecting on whether those objectives have been met.

We will publish the new rules and supporting materials on our website over the coming months. However, we do not intend to actively promote these until the new year. This is because the current CPD requirements apply until the end of 2020 and we want to keep things simple. You will hear more from us in early 2021 about the new regime and what you need to do.

Mark of Regulation: Licence no longer needed

Earlier this year we removed the requirement to sign a licence agreement before using the Costs Lawyer Mark of Regulation. The Mark of Regulation is a logo that indicates you are regulated by the CLSB. You can use it as a badge of professionalism to highlight your regulatory status. You might want to use it on your email signature, letterhead, website or promotional material.

You can start using the Mark of Regulation at any time, so long as you abide by the Terms of Use. You can find more information about the Mark on the dedicated page of our website.

Get ready to renew your practising certificate

This year the application form to renew your Costs Lawyer practising certificate will be sent to you by email. Please set up [email protected] as a “safe sender” in your email account to ensure the application form is delivered to your inbox (you might need to speak to your IT team, or google how to do this for your email provider).

Application forms will be sent out in the first week of November, so if you don’t receive the email please check your junk/spam folder. On some email systems, the email might appear behind your “promotions” tab or in a marketing folder.

Spotlight on… being upfront about costs

In this newsletter, we turn our spotlight on price transparency and the need to give clients clear information about costs. Elisabeth Davies, Chair of the Office for Legal Complaints, looks at what clients need to know. Her insights are important for Costs Lawyers not only when communicating their own fees, but also when advising on own-client costs disputes.

Back in 2016 I said: “Far too many consumers, including some of the most vulnerable, are faced with the uncertainty of not knowing what their legal services will cost. This has to change and we look forward to seeing what measures will improve the information available.” In returning to the legal services market in April 2020, and as the Chair of the Office for Legal Complaints, I was immediately interested in what has changed in relation to price transparency. Are consumers shopping around before procuring legal services? How many providers are advertising their price? And above all, how many of the complaints escalated to the Legal Ombudsman are about cost issues?

Read More

Up and Coming…

Expect more from us shortly on:

  • Confirmation of the 2021 practising fee
  • Updated guidance on topics such as referral fees and handling client money
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