Becoming a COLP - A Practical Guide to Getting Started

Introduction

This highly interactive session focuses on the practical steps a newly appointed Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) should be considering and taking.

Presented by Paul Bennett, a leading regulatory solicitor, the session will address all aspects of the specific obligations attached to the COLP function, making it ideal not only for those new to this position, but also those who would like a greater understanding of, or a refresher on, the role and responsibilities of the COLP.

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• The key extracts from the Code of Conduct for firms
• How the SRA share guidance and warning notes and how these impacts your internal training regime
• Compliance and business systems
• The cooperation and accountability relationship between the partners, the COLP and the SRA
• Client care risks and practical risk management
• Developing a compliance plan to manage the risks in your firm
• Assessing risk and preparing a risk register
• Training your firm’s personnel (including the SRA Competency Statement)
• Managing the risks of undertakings
• Anti-Money Laundering and the 2017 Regulations
• Data security and protection
• Using file reviews to manage down the risks
• Conflicts and confidentiality
• Outsourcing risks and how to manage these risks
• Business continuity planning
• Referral arrangements - how to get this right
• Monitoring and recording breaches
• Self-reporting to the SRA and corrective action
• Case studies - lessons from the frontline