Following the news that three firms have taken advantage of the Solicitor Regulation Authority’s (SRA) removal of the six month run-off indemnity insurance for firms leaving the regulator by joining the CLC, it has emerged that more firms are also doing the same.
The CLC have announced that at least three more firms have made at least a partial switch in recent months. Leicester based company EHL Conveyancing, Poole Townsend Estates in Cumbria and online firm Your Conveyancer have enjoyed the freedom of moving regulators because of the SRA insurance amendment. In some cases the firms remain SRA-regulated who have moved their conveyancing practices into separate CLC-licensed firms while the existing firm retains SRA regulated activity and now enjoy a specialist conveyancing regulator for that section of the business.
CLC Chief Executive Sheila Kumar says: “We are excited to see that firms are taking advantage of the freedom to choose to move to a specialist regulatory regime that supports innovation. This is an important driver for the promotion of competition in the provision of legal services, one of the regulatory objectives in the Legal Services Act 2007.
“The CLC works closely with its regulated community to help them grow and thrive and we welcome these new firms who are committed to long-term success and developing prosperous businesses for the benefit of the consumer.
“Our approach, which delivers proportionate and agile regulation, means we can work with firms as they develop the most appropriate model for them: setting up a new business, switching their current business to CLC regulation or moving parts of their group into CLC regulation while continuing other parts of their business under their current regulator. We take the time to listen to businesses’ needs. We are flexible and work with businesses to help them deliver compliant, sustainable solutions for the long-term.
“As businesses across the legal sector prepare themselves for the new transparency rules we look forward to discussing with firms how CLC regulation can support them in finding new and better ways to meet changing consumer need and grasp the opportunities of new technology.”
Whilst a regulator, like the SRA, dealing with thousands of firms from a variety of specialisms have been perceived as struggling to offer the firms the help they need to thrive in their specific sector, the CLC’s aim to offer a bespoke conveyancing specialism has encouraged movement between regulators.
Will conveyancers see more movement between regulators in the future? How important is the regulator in helping your firm develop?
