The SRA Statement of Solicitor Competence

The SRA Statement of Competence sets out the skills, knowledge and behavious expected of legal professionals. With competency comes an assumption that advo­cates act both professionally and ethically.

Standards should not be lowered simply because unforeseen circumstances arise that take an advocate by surprise. An advocate is expected to pre-empt all possible risks and alternative courses of actions. For example, under D1 (e), part of manag­ing yourself and your work involves “dealing effectively with unforeseen circum­stances”. Not all matters in litigation can be foreseen but what matters is how an advocate deals with situations as they arise and finds solutions. For example, if you were acting for a claimant in civil proceedings and suing a company for negligence, what would you do on receiving information that the same company was subject to a hostile takeover by another company? You would want to act quickly to secure any assets before the hostile takeover, in which case you might think about the powers that the court has under CPR 25 to make interim remedies such as a ‘freez­ing injunction' or an order to restrain a party from dealing with any assets whether located in the jurisdiction or not (see CPR Part 25.1 (1) (f) (ii) and for a helpful case that summarises the criteria for obtaining a ‘freezing injunction', see Kaza Ltd and Another v Akcil and Others [2019] EWCA Civ 891).

Advocates who are new to their role may of course make mistakes but learning through repeated tasks, supervision and feedback all help to maintain levels of com­petence.

Good time management and file organisation will also ensure that you keep on top of your work so that you are able to meet important timescales and deadlines. Be prepared to be adaptable as the rules governing legal services can change as well as the way in which an advocate works as new technology and case management systems are introduced within firms/organisations and the courts.

1.3.1 Maintaining Levels of Competency

and Legal Knowledge

The risks of inadvertently falling into unethical behaviour are significantly reduced if an advocate maintains their professional competency by keeping their legal knowledge up to date and responding to changes and developments in the law. This is best achieved through professional courses as well as learning from more senior colleagues. It is expected that competence will be maintained through training, supervision and feedback. Part of being a competent advocate is recognising when matters are beyond your expertise and knowledge and seek­ing appropriate support and guidance, for example, from experts or a supervisor. Guidance and constructive feedback are necessary to the process of becoming proficient.