Rule 4 (Res. No. 6/1997) of Bar Council of India state that “A person of Indian origin with foreign nationality who is so otherwise qualified to practise law in India and who wants to permanently settle down in India would be allowed to be enrolled and/or practise law subject to the rules of apprenticeship framed by the Bar Council of India. In case it is found that such a person is not ordinarily residing in India, his name would be removed from the roll of Advocates maintained by the State Bar Council
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Saturday, 15 August 2009
Can overseas lawyer without practising certificate advise on English Law?
Without practicing certificate you can’t give advise as a Solicitor, Paralegal, Legal Executive, Legal Clerk on English Law to your client.
Can overseas Lawyer who is also an English solicitor provide experience to other Lawyers who wish to qualify as a solicitor?
Yes, overseas dual qualified lawyer can give experience to other lawyers who wish to qualify as a solicitor. As per SRA guidelines the experience must have been gained either in a firm or other organisation regulated by the SRA or under the direct supervision of a solicitor who had been admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales. The Solicitor must have held a current practising certificate when he is supervising you and have previously held at least four such practising certificates.
How to apply for internships or work experience?
All law firm regulated by SRA offers training contracts and/or internships to the law students. It is recommended that the overseas Lawyers should visit their website on regular basis to find out suitable places in the firm.
To find out the contact details of the SRA regulated law firms, please visit the Law Society’s website
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law
To find out the contact details of the SRA regulated law firms, please visit the Law Society’s website
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/findasolicitor.law
Which experience would be considered while working in a Solicitor’s office?
According to the SRA regulations, Overseas Lawyers are required to gain at least two years’ work experience in legal practice in a common law jurisdiction of which at least one year must have been gained by practising the law of England and Wales. This experience must have been gained either in a firm or other organisation regulated by the SRA or under the direct supervision of a solicitor (must have held a current practising certificate when they were supervising you and have previously held at least four such practising certificates) who had been admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales.
Further, it is required that the experience should be gained in three distinct areas of law and experience of both contentious and non contentious practice. The length and nature of this experience must have been sufficient to give you a reasonable insight into the practice of law in those areas. You may have gained this experience either in England or Wales or your common law jurisdiction
Newly qualified advocates can also apply for a certificate of eligibility before they meet the above experience requirement. Overseas Lawyers are required to provide the SRA complete evidence of their experience till date. The SRA may consider your experience and issue a conditional Certificate of Eligibility with details of any further experience you will need to gain prior to making an application for admission to the Roll of Solicitors of England & Wales.
The following explains what can be considered by the SRA as sufficient proof of your work experience:
POST QUALIFICATION/ADMISSION
Further, it is required that the experience should be gained in three distinct areas of law and experience of both contentious and non contentious practice. The length and nature of this experience must have been sufficient to give you a reasonable insight into the practice of law in those areas. You may have gained this experience either in England or Wales or your common law jurisdiction
Newly qualified advocates can also apply for a certificate of eligibility before they meet the above experience requirement. Overseas Lawyers are required to provide the SRA complete evidence of their experience till date. The SRA may consider your experience and issue a conditional Certificate of Eligibility with details of any further experience you will need to gain prior to making an application for admission to the Roll of Solicitors of England & Wales.
The following explains what can be considered by the SRA as sufficient proof of your work experience:
POST QUALIFICATION/ADMISSION
- Legal employment in the office of a solicitor or lawyer in private practice.
- Any period spent in practice at the Bar i.e. tenancy or squatting.
- In house legal employment in a legal department headed by a solicitor or barrister qualified in England & Wales of at least 5 years standing with
o Crown Prosecution Service
o Her Majesty’s Court Service,
o The Civil Service,
o Local Government,
o a Public Authority or Commerce or Industry - Time spent in the UK based law firms as paralegal, legal executive or legal clerk under the supervision of a qualified solicitor.
- Experience gained overseas may count if this has been gained in a common law jurisdiction.
PRE QUALIFICATION/ADMISSION
Pre qualification/ admission experience is usually counted only where it is normal practice for a trainee to complete a period of practical training, ‘articles’ or a training contract as part of the training scheme in certain jurisdictions.
The SRA will also consider as standard, any experience gained after you have taken the relevant qualifying examinations (e.g. Bar Exams) in your home jurisdiction. Consideration of experience not falling into one of the above categories will need to be referred to an adjudicator once an application has been made.
How can an overseas lawyer gain work experience on English law?
According to the SRA regulations, overseas lawyers are required to gain at least two years’ work experience in legal practice in a common law jurisdiction of which at least one year must have been gained by practising the law of England and Wales. This experience must have been gained either in a firm or other organisation regulated by the SRA or under the direct supervision of a solicitor (must have held a current practising certificate when they were supervising you and have previously held at least four such practising certificates) who had been admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales.
There is no restriction on the jurisdiction to get this experience. Overseas Lawyers can get experience by working as an intern, paralegal and/or legal executive etc. in any law firm or organization regulated by the SRA, which could be in England and Wales, or India, or Singapore, or Dubai, or Australia etc.
There is no restriction on the jurisdiction to get this experience. Overseas Lawyers can get experience by working as an intern, paralegal and/or legal executive etc. in any law firm or organization regulated by the SRA, which could be in England and Wales, or India, or Singapore, or Dubai, or Australia etc.
How to setup law firm on English law in overseas jurisdiction?
Once you have passed the QLTT, and you have been admitted to the roll, you will need to have a practising certificate to practice as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales. You will also need to comply with the Solicitors' Code of Conduct 2007 (also available on the SRA website, www.sra.org.uk). Rule 5 deals with business management in England and Wales, and sub rule 5.02 states that a sole principal, or at least one of the partners in a partnership, must be a person "qualified to supervise".
To be qualified to supervise a person must have completed 12 hours of management training and must have been entitled to practise as a lawyer for at least 36 months within the last ten years. This means that solicitors who have come through the QLTT route can rely on practice as lawyers of other jurisdictions can rely on that experience.
If you intend to practice as a solicitor of the supreme court of England and Wales overseas, you will need to comply with rule 15(overseas practice ) of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct. In particular, subrule 15.05(2) states that you must not set up as a solicitor sole principal unless you have been entitled to parctise as a lawyer for a minimum of 36 months within the last 10 years.
I refer to rule 15.26 of the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct which provides that where a practising solicitor is working in a law firm based overseas they are required to ensure that they are covered by insurance or other indemnity against professional liabilities. The requirement to have insurance arises where a solicitor is relying on that professional qualification, rather than on the area of work they are undertaking. It is not therefore an automatic requirement to have professional indemnity insurance in order to advise on English law if you were not providing the advice as a solicitor of England and Wales. Giving legal advice is not an area of work which is reserved to a certain class of persons, including solicitors under the Solicitors Act 1974.
So it mean in regards to open your own solicitors practice, the practice rules state that you must have:
To be qualified to supervise a person must have completed 12 hours of management training and must have been entitled to practise as a lawyer for at least 36 months within the last ten years. This means that solicitors who have come through the QLTT route can rely on practice as lawyers of other jurisdictions can rely on that experience.
If you intend to practice as a solicitor of the supreme court of England and Wales overseas, you will need to comply with rule 15(overseas practice ) of the Solicitors' Code of Conduct. In particular, subrule 15.05(2) states that you must not set up as a solicitor sole principal unless you have been entitled to parctise as a lawyer for a minimum of 36 months within the last 10 years.
I refer to rule 15.26 of the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct which provides that where a practising solicitor is working in a law firm based overseas they are required to ensure that they are covered by insurance or other indemnity against professional liabilities. The requirement to have insurance arises where a solicitor is relying on that professional qualification, rather than on the area of work they are undertaking. It is not therefore an automatic requirement to have professional indemnity insurance in order to advise on English law if you were not providing the advice as a solicitor of England and Wales. Giving legal advice is not an area of work which is reserved to a certain class of persons, including solicitors under the Solicitors Act 1974.
So it mean in regards to open your own solicitors practice, the practice rules state that you must have:
- a practising certificate
- qualifying insurance with a qualifying insurer
- a principal (or, if a company, a director; or, if an LLP, a member) who is "qualified to supervise";
- to be "qualified to supervise", a solicitor must have:
a. held a practising certificate for 36 months in the last 10 years; and
b. undertaken 12 hours managment skills training.
If you feel that you have justification to apply for a waiver in relation to the length of time of holding a practicing certificate and to take the management skills training, you can do so by providing the details. Waivers can be granted in individual cases; however, the applicant would need to demonstrate that their circumstances are exceptional to justify a departure from the normal requirements of rule 5.02.
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