15
Messages to COLPs and COFAs – how to manage compliance Francis Dingwall – Partner, Legal Risk LLP
Messages to COLPs and COFAs –
how to manage compliance
Francis Dingwall – Partner, Legal Risk LLP
We are a firm of solicitors. Our mission is to keep law firms out of trouble.
Professional RegulationAdvising on professional ethics and compliance with the SRA Handbook;Advising on anti-money laundering compliance;Representing solicitors on investigations by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, by the Legal Ombudsman, and in the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal;Law firm structures and Alternative Business Structures (ABSs);File audit.
Professional IndemnityHandling professional indemnity policy coverage disputes;Advising on professional indemnity insurance issues on mergers/demergers;Advising on risk assessment, and implementing risk management systems;Defending professional liability claims.
About Legal Risk LLP
Overview
• When „compliance‟ is an unattractive idea
• Focus on the issues which threaten the firm
• The tone at the top
• The permafrost below
• Obtaining engagement from partners and staff
• Compliance circuit training
Riders continue to flout Oxford bike lights law
“Thames Valley Police have said that around 89% of cyclists they stopped on a given
night in Oxford were not equipped with the necessary bike lights.”
Email heading: “Stupid application for authorisation”
Arnold
Bennett,
solicitor
AB
Limited
Bennett Smith Brown Solicitors Ltd
John
Smith,
solicitor
George
Brown,
solicitor
Is compliance “an operational
issue of the second order”?
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary:
Compliance
• The acting in accordance with a desire, condition, etc;
• A ceding to;
• Practical assent;
Often absol, also in a bad sense.
Financial stability, 4 warning signs:
–Long term bank debt
–Expiring leases
–Obligations to former partners
–Guarantees of income to partners
Focussing on issues that threaten
the firm
If you didn‟t have compliance,
what would your firm look like?
1. Client/matter risk assessment
2. CDD for AML purposes
3. Client engagement letter
4. Estimating costs, and keeping the client informed
5. Use of general files
6. Undertakings register
7. Supervision of foreign language files
8. Credit control
9. Overcharging
10. Misdescribing overheads
11. Use of client account
12. No file produced for audit
The „tone at the top‟
• “… His aggressive litigation style attracted a loyal following, and he consistently
billed more than twice the amount of any of the other partners.”
• “…He has dedicated himself to the firm for 30 years, he has consistently
contributed more than his fair share of the turnover, and he has been there for
many of the partners when they needed a shoulder to cry on…”
• “…She was the COLP and the COFA. Everything went to her. She had been with the
firm for over 40 years. She was a pillar of the local Church community. She lived in
a modest house and if she wanted to spend the odd weekend at the Ritz, no-one
begrudged her that…”
• “…I took over as the firm‟s Finance Partner and COFA, but I was only working 3
days a week, and I was dealing with the conversion to LLP, with the investigation
into a major complaint, my own caseload and I was supervising 3 fee-earners.”
“…Workers … were like parts in a complicated machine.
If they did the right work in the right way at the right
time, the machine would function smoothly…”
Drive, by Daniel H Pink
The permafrost below the top
Guidance note (vi) to rule 8 of the SRA Authorisation Rules 2011:
“The firm must … ensure that any person designated as its COLP or
COFA is of sufficient seniority, in a position of sufficient power and
responsibility …”
How to get the message through the
permafrost
How to get the message
through the permafrost (2)
From Compliance……to Engagement
Compliance v. Professionalism
Implement
policies and
procedures,
systems
Compliance circuit training
Define the
message
Communication
and trainingObtain
feedback
Corrective
action
Monitor for
yourself
Decide on
roles and
resourcesRedesign
– 22pt Trebuchet
• 20pt Trebuchet
– 18pt Trebuchet
