The legal profession in England and Wales

Open for business

By Mark Watson

“L’Angleterre est une nation de boutiquiers”. So said Napoleon I, reportedly. As many will know,  “Open all hours” is the mantra of every successful corner shop or “Mom and Pop” store.  These days, open for business is also the mantra of the legal profession in England and Wales (E&W).

For foreign law firms, the E&W legal system is one of the world’s most supportive for 

business. It is an open jurisdiction. It allows virtually unrestricted access, contributing in 2012 over £20 billion to the UK’s GDP. English law often regulates contractual relations between parties from other jurisdictions. London alone is home to lawyers from nearly 100 jurisdictions and hosts over 200 foreign law firms.

Anyone can offer legal advice in E&W, in any law. There are no nationality restrictions. Certain areas of the law (e.g. rights of audience before the courts, the conduct of court proceedings, certain property matters, some immigration work) are reserved for E&W-qualified solicitors and barristers. It is also a criminal offence to use the title of solicitor or barrister unless qualified.

Apart from that there is an open door, and the entry threshold is low.

For inpidual lawyers who are qualified in other recognised jurisdictions and who wish to practise E&W law, re-qualification as a solicitor in E&W is straightforward under the fast-track Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme (QLTS), subject to passing the QLTS test, run by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which checks that the applicant has the requisite standard of knowledge and skill.

Lawyers qualified in other EU member states benefit from the EU Lawyers’ Establishment Directive enabling them to practice E&W law as well as the law of their own jurisdiction, as a Registered European Lawyer. 

After three years, there is a simple process for admission as an E&W solicitor. Non-EU foreign lawyers in good standing with their home jurisdiction are allowed to practise the law of their home jurisdiction in partnership with solicitors in E&W, subject to registering with the SRA as a Registered Foreign Lawyer.

Foreign lawyers wishing to set-up an office in E&W need only comply with the rules of their home jurisdiction and register with the SRA.

The Law Society’s International Department (www.international.lawsociety.org.uk) works on behalf of all lawyers practising in E&W, and should be the first port of call for any foreign law firm or foreign lawyer seeking to practise law in the UK.

A nation of shopkeepers? Perhaps that was simply good press and never really true, but without any doubt, the UK is open for business to foreign law firms and foreign lawyers.

Mark Watson is an employment partner in London law firm Fox Williams LLP, and [UK National President-Elect]