Proposed changes by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) to its Code of Conduct have been approved by the Legal Services Board (LSB) and will take effect from 1 January 2025.
Last reviewed in 2011, the CLC closed a consultation at the beginning of the year on a revised Code to improve clarity and reflect the significant changes in practice and the societal context in which its firms operate.
Following approval by the LSB, the revised Code of Conduct is now available to view and will take effect from 2025. The changes place increased importance on knowing your client, high standards of professional conduct and promoting and supporting equality, diversity and inclusion in practice to deliver positive outcomes for clients.
The Code of Conduct is part of the CLC’s Handbook, setting requirements and standards of conduct which must be met by the lawyers and entities that it regulates. The previous Overarching Principles are replaced by six new Ethical Principles which outline standards of practice that serve to protect and promote the interests of consumers.
These changes reflect the outcome of the 2022 consultation on the Ethical Principles and extensive engagement with the CLC’s Consumer Reference Group and governing Council. The result of which is a reorganised, clarified, and updated document which will be launched to the CLC’s regulated community via a series of nationwide roadshows in November.
The Legal Services Act 2007 sets out nine regulatory objectives that all legal services regulators should meet. The updated Code of Conduct helps in the achievement of each of those nine objectives, and now outlines the six updated Ethical Principles, with each accompanied by specific outcomes which must be met.
Sheila Kumar, chief executive, said: “It was time for a comprehensive review of the overarching expectations we have of CLC-regulated lawyers. The substance of the changes may not appear far-reaching but this is because we took the opportunity to present the Code of Conduct more simply and clearly. The Ethical Principles enshrined in the Code therefore represent continuity of the high standards for which the CLC is known. Substantial changes to the Principles in relation to equality and diversity and the need to know your client reflect the CLC’s own insight into these issues and how the world has changed around us since the Code was last updated.
“We look forward to speaking to our regulated community about these changes in a series of roadshows next month.”
The CLC will host roadshows week commencing 11 November in London, Leeds, Liverpool and Bristol.
