Providing legal support of not a member of Law Society (Yes or No)

Decorus

Hi guys,
I was thinking can a person with a law degree provide some sort of legal support or consultancy (not advice) to public without passing FE1’s exams first? Or you need to be qualified solicitor only?
Thanks!

Reloc8

A person in that position can provide whatever services they wish to whomever is willing to pay for them, subject to them not 'acting as a solicitor' which is a specific offence under the Solicitors Acts (the 1954 Act if I recall correctly, Section 55 thereof). In fact you wouldn't even need a law degree.

By way of illustration there is nothing, for instance, stopping anyone being employed in a legal department of a given entity and providing legal advice to their employer. Equally there are qualified professionals who act as advocates before arbitrators and mediators, incorporating a large degree of legal representation within their retainer.

You can take 'acting as a solicitor' as meaning behaving as if one is a solicitor, doing anything which only a solicitor is permitted to do or (probably/possibly) failing to clarify that one is not a solicitor if one has created an impression that one is.

The problem such a person faces as an entity in their own right is that they will not secure appropriate insurance to cover their advice and will hence be personally liable for their acts and omissions (the professionals acting in arbitration and mediation can secure insurance - and by way of comment anyone engaging anyone to perform such a service should seek confirmation of insurance as a matter of course - and employees are of course not going to need to have recourse to insurance for services provided to an employer).

I can see no circumstances where a serious person, natural or legal, would not insist on a given advisor being insured. I can also see no circumstances where a serious person would engage an advisor to provide services that will almost ultimately have to be signed off on by a qualified professional.

I can see a certain practical market for advisory services in regulatory/compliance areas such as e.g. employment law (to small businesses) and family law (to individuals). This doesn't overcome the difficulties mentioned above.

There is also no real margin for the 'advisor'. In order to present a credible business as legal advisor one would have all the overheads of any professional office (albeit without insurance (yikes) and thus no real margin on fees to undercut qualified solicitors, which is more or less what this kind of activity would be all about. Even in the instance given of compliance/regulatory, small & larger firms generally have access through union/trade affiliation bodies/state bodies to the sort of advice which 'legal advisor' type person could safely provide.

And ultimately you couldn't provide a 'one stop shop for legal advice because in the event of anything becoming litigious you'd have to pass them on to someone else who, the client will realise, could have handled it from start for them without significant additional expense to the client (in fact quite possibly cheaper - why pay two offices).

So, the answer to your question is yes (the first part), no (the second part) but subject to all of the foregoing.

A person training as solicitor should be aware that acting as a solicitor when not qualified constitutes misconduct under the Solicitors Acts i.e. may lead to disciplinary sanction. Such a person who goes off and tries to provide legal advice for reward would be well advised to plaster 'I AM NOT A SOLICITOR' all over themselves.

Decorus

Reloc8, thank you very much for this comprehensive answer! Really appreciate it!!!