Third-Party Services Procedures (Jan26)

Introduction

In some circumstances, the firm may need to call on the services of others to help us to progress our clients’ matters, such as barristers, expert witnesses and other external advisers who can assist with the delivery of legal services. It is important that we have procedures in place to control how we call upon such services to ensure that we do so in a consistent and effective way, can monitor the quality of such services and keep our clients involved throughout the process.

Purpose

These procedures aim to inform us all of the steps that must be followed when instructing a third-party to assist with a client’s matter.

Scope

These procedures apply to anyone involved in instructing third parties to assist with client matters.

These procedures are concerned with those third-parties who provide services to our clients to help progress their matter and not with third-parties who undertake services on our behalf (i.e. outsourcing). For outsourcing arrangements, please refer to our Outsourcing Policy.

Responsibility

Timothy Halliday (COLP) is ultimately responsible for our third-party services procedures. This means that they will review the procedures regularly to ensure that they remain effective. He is also responsible for ensuring that our approved list of counsel, experts and other professionals, is kept up to date.

All employees, in particular, anyone involved in instructing third parties to assist with client matters are responsible for ensuring compliance with these procedures. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action.

Policy compliance will be monitored through our file review system. Any trends in non-compliance with this procedure will be reported to Timothy Halliday who will then address the issues with the individuals concerned.

Selection criteria

The choice of counsel, expert or other professional, as the case may be, should centre around matching the client’s needs and priorities with:

• the most suitable person for the role;
• the complexity of the service required;
• the timescale within which the service is required; and
• the cost constraints of the client or their funder if they are to pay for the service or might need to do so.

The selection criteria must comply with our Equality and Diversity Policy and should not be influenced by any preferences of the fee earner which are inconsistent with that policy.

Our approved list of counsel, experts or other professionals can be found on the intranet and is to be the first point of call when looking to instruct one of these individuals.

You are permitted to choose a counsel, expert or other professional that is not on the list, however you must seek approval from Timothy Halliday (COLP) before doing this. Any recommendations to add counsel, expert or other professional to the approved list should be made to Timothy Halliday (COLP)

 Consulting with the client

Clients should be consulted on both the decision on whether to involve counsel, expert or other professional and on their selection.

If the client wants to choose a counsel, an expert or other professional that would place us in a position of breaching the SRA Standards and Regulations, we should explain this to the client and, where necessary, cease to act for them.

Information which must be given to the client

Clients must be informed, in writing, of:

• the name and status of the person being instructed;
• how long he/she might take to respond; and
• the likely cost of the service to the client (including any future liability that might arise for the costs).

 Appointment of non-counsel third party

Except in the case of counsel, a letter or email should be sent to the appointed experts or other professionals setting out the terms of their appointment. This document should:

• set out, as fully as possible, all the matters upon which we wish them to advise, including, where relevant, any timetable dates;
• state that the appointee’s professional relationship is with the client and that the firm is acting as the client’s agent;
• identify who, at the firm, will be issuing instructions to the appointee;
• request an estimate of the appointee’s fees and expenses; and
• confirm that the client will be liable for paying the appointee’s fees and expenses. (The firm will be responsible for dealing with the payment of the appointee’s fees, unless it is agreed otherwise.)

The firm should make clear that it is acting as an agent for the client. Besides assisting in relation to the responsibility for fees, this gives the client a contractual rather than tortious relationship with the appointee and will assist in preserving legal professional privilege.

Evaluation of performance

The performance of counsel, experts and any other professionals on the approved list will be kept under regular review. Feedback on performance should be added to the approved list.

If an approved counsel, expert or other professional fails to meet the required standards, details are to be recorded on the matter file and a recommendation to remove that counsel, expert or professional from the list should be considered. Caution should be taken in what is recorded as this could be disclosed if a data subject access request was to be made by the person involved.

All recommendations for removal from the list should be made to Timothy Halliday.

Data protection requirements

Before a counsel, expert or other professional is formally instructed, it is imperative to ensure that a written third-party data processing agreement is in place between the firm and the third party so that both parties understand their obligations, responsibilities and liabilities from a data protection perspective.

There should be a third-party data processing agreement in place between the firm and all third parties listed in the approved list of counsel, experts or other professionals. If it is identified that an agreement is not in place for any third-parties on the list, this should be brought to the attention of Timothy Halliday without delay.

Confidentiality

Similarly, it is important to ensure that the third party will keep any information that they acquire as a result of or during their work for the firm confidential and must not use or disclose information belonging to us, our past, existing or future clients and third parties, and our people without prior consent.

Information held by third parties

Under paragraph 7.4(b) of the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs and paragraph 3.3(b) of the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms, we must ensure that information held by third parties carrying out functions on our behalf which are critical to the delivery of legal services is available for inspection by the SRA.

To ensure compliance with this requirement, we require all contracts with third parties to include a term which requires the third party to produce records and other information on demand, together with a provision that the term continues after termination of the services supplied under the contract.

Information security

Any third party with access to, use of or that hosts the firm’s Information (including personal data), is required to hold up to date ISO 27001:2013 certification/Cyber Essentials/Cyber Essentials Plus or be able to meet the requirements set out in the firm’s Information Security questionnaire.

They should ensure their own third parties have ISO 27001:2013 or other acceptable certification and provide details of the policies they have in place with these third parties to manage the data they hold. Information should be encrypted and stored in the UK, or outside the UK only where ‘appropriate safeguards’ (as defined by applicable data protection legislation in the UK) are in place and the firm should have a right of audit in respect of information and facilities.

Third parties also need to carry out appropriate background checks on any authorised personnel with access to the firm’s information and systems. They must prevent personnel who are not authorised to access the firm’s information, as well as providing a process for managing any exceptions to this prohibition. Any personnel with access to the firm’s information must have committed themselves to confidentiality (e.g. through the terms of their employment) or be under an appropriate statutory obligation of confidentiality. These requirements will be set out in a contract with the Third Party

Conflict of interest

Third Parties are expected to avoid conflicts of interest and report any potential or apparent conflicts between their personal interests (including their family members or personal friends) and the interests of the firm.

Clear instruction

Counsel, experts and any other professional will receive instructions by way of letter, brief, telephone conversation or in person. Where instructions are provided verbally, they must be confirmed, subsequently, in writing. In all cases, a note of the instructions or a copy of them must appear on the matter file.

Reviewing counsel, expert or other professional advice

On receipt of advice from any counsel, expert or other professional, the fee earner must consider its suitability and value. In litigation matters, the fee earner must check that the advice complies with the rules of the court (particularly Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules

– Experts and Assessors) and any court orders. It is recommended that you consult an experienced litigator if you are not familiar with this area.

If the fee earner considers the advice to be inappropriate, they should refer it back to the counsel, expert or other professional.

If the standard of advice remains inappropriate, consideration should be given to the non-payment of fees and to recommending the removal of that individual from the approved list.

The failure of counsel, expert or other professional to meet our standards must be noted on the matter file and the approved list.

Payment of fees

If the firm is responsible for payment of fees, as and when a fee note is received, it is the fee earner’s responsibility to ensure that the fee note is settled in line with agreed payment terms.

Review of these procedures

These procedures will be reviewed at least annually by Timothy Halliday.

  January 2026