Legal Services
Legal Services (also called Professional Conduct or Ethics) covers the regulatory framework governing solicitors in England and Wales. The primary sources are the SRA Standards and Regulations 2019, comprising the SRA Principles, the Code of Conduct for Solicitors, and the Code of Conduct for Firms. This topic is highly practical: questions usually present an ethical dilemma and ask you to identify the applicable rule and the correct course of action.
Practise Legal Services questions →What FLK1 tests in Legal Services
The SRA Principles
Seven mandatory principles (all overriding codes): (1) uphold the rule of law and proper administration of justice; (2) act in a way that upholds public trust; (3) act with independence; (4) act with honesty; (5) act with integrity; (6) act in the best interests of each client; (7) manage client money properly. Where principles conflict, (1) and (2) take precedence.
Confidentiality and Disclosure
Duty to keep client information confidential (para 6.3). Duty to disclose information material to the client's matter (para 6.4). Tension: if acting for two clients and one discloses information the other needs, you cannot act for both. Exceptions to confidentiality: client consent; preventing serious harm; money laundering disclosure; court order.
Conflicts of Interest
Own-interest conflicts (para 6.1): solicitor must not act where their own interests conflict with the client's. Client conflicts (para 6.2): must not act for two or more clients where there is a conflict or significant risk of conflict. Exceptions: clients have a substantially common interest OR are competing for the same objective AND consent AND the solicitor reasonably believes they can act impartially.
Client Care and Costs
Para 8: solicitor must give clients information they need to make informed decisions. At the start of the retainer: inform client of the basis of charging, likely costs, right to complain. Costs must be transparent and clients must be updated. Client money: solicitors must account to clients promptly.
Undertakings
A statement, whether oral or in writing, made by or on behalf of a solicitor to someone who reasonably relies on it, that the solicitor or their firm will do something, or refrain from doing something. Undertakings are personally binding and must be honoured promptly. Breach of undertaking is professional misconduct.
Money Laundering
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002: principal offences — laundering (concealing, arranging) and failure to disclose (s.330 for those in the regulated sector). Solicitors must submit a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) to the National Crime Agency (NCA) via their MLRO. "Tipping off" (s.333A) is a further offence. AML checks must be performed on all clients (due diligence).
Solicitors' Accounts Rules
Client money must be kept in a client account, separate from the firm's own money. Rule 2.1: client money must be returned promptly when there is no longer a proper reason to hold it. Interest on client money belongs to the client (unless agreed otherwise). See also the Solicitors Accounts topic in FLK2 for detailed ledger rules.
Key cases
The cases most commonly tested in SQE1 MCQs for Legal Services.
An undertaking given by a solicitor is personally binding even if given without authority and regardless of whether the client provides the means to fulfil it.
A firm that has acted for a former client cannot act against them in related litigation unless the risk of disclosure of confidential information is effectively managed.
Other FLK1 topics
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