The Solicitor's Handbook 2009
Publisher: Law Society Publishing
Author: Andrew Hopper QC & Gregory Treverton-Jones QC
Price: £69.95
Edition: 2nd Edition (June 2009)
ISBN: 978-1-85328-779-4
Buy from Law Society Publishing: Click Here
For
many solicitors, the significant increase and change in both the
regulatory and disciplinary system over the last decade or so has meant
it is difficult to keep up to date. This has been compounded
somewhat by the move to providing more information online rather than
issuing hard copy texts as a matter of course. To overcome these
issues, The Solicitor's Handbook 2009 provides invaluable
commentary on the regulatory and disciplinary environment combined with
a comprehensive number of appendices.
Written by two experienced silks, one a solicitor-advocate and the other
a barrister, The Solicitor's Handbook 2009 is broken into five
parts: overview; the rules; fraud and money laundering; the regulatory
and disciplinary system in practice; and appendices. Each part is
then sub-divided into a number of chapters. For example, the part
looking at the regulatory and disciplinary system has separate chapters
on the Legal Complaints Services and the Solicitors Regulation
Authority. The appendices are also extremely detailed (and make up
the majority of this tome) and include, amongst other things, the
Solicitors' Financial Services (Scope) Rules 2001 (revised 31 March
2009) and the important Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007 (including the
Law Society's guidance).
The Solicitor's Handbook 2009 is impressively put together and
pulls the key materials in to one handy volume. I was, however,
surprised at how little of the text is actually commentary. This
covers only just over 200 pages compared to a total number of 1,200
pages. It would have been helpful, given the authors' collective
experience, if more commentary could have been included by, perhaps,
giving a wide range of examples. This would have allowed the busy
practitioner to put the rules into context. That said, the
guidance provided is excellent and it is a text which should remain
close to any lawyer charged with compliance issues within a firm.
Given the importance of compliance and the wide ranging powers of the
regulatory, all firms should invest in a copy of The Solicitor's
Handbook 2009. Its price, at less than £70, means it is
excellent value for money and ensures practitioners have one text with a
printed copy of the main provisions. It is hoped, however, that
the authors spend more time improving and adding to the commentary in
future editions. If they do so, there is no doubt that The
Solicitor's Handbook 2009 will quickly become an indispensible text
for any self-respecting practitioner. In the meantime,
practitioners without a copy may have a greater risk of becoming
entangled in compliance issues or investigation by the regulators.
Given the importance of compliance and the wide ranging powers of the regulatory, all firms should invest in a copy of The Solicitor's Handbook 2009. Its price, at less than £70, means it is excellent value for money and ensures practitioners have one text with a printed copy of the main provisions. It is hoped. however, that the authors spend more time improving the commentary in future editions. If they do so, there is no doubt that The Solicitor's Handbook 2009 will quickly become an indispensible text for any self-respecting practitioner. Until then, practitioners without one may have a greater risk of becoming entangled in compliance issues or investigation by the regulators.
Reviewed on 1 June 2010
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