On 1 November 2016, the legal profession will experience a momentous change to the manner in which solicitors remain competent.
After that date, every solicitor in England will be required to demonstrate that they have reflected on their abilities to deliver competent legal practice, and bridged the gaps in their competence through learning.
This reflective approach replaces the current system, whereby every solicitor undertakes a flat 16 hours of learning.
This new regime has left many confused. In the largest poll conducted on the issue, VinciWorks found that confusion amongst solicitors is the number one concern of compliance departments on the eve of these new regulations.
Continuing Competence Module
VinciWorks has used this survey as well as interviews with firms, solicitors and the SRA, to develop a full software solution for compliance with the SRA’s new approach to continuing competence.
The module alleviates the confusion around the process by guiding solicitors step-by-step through the new requirements. It show solicitors how to perform the four steps in the SRA’s guidance:
- Reflect on your practice to identify your learning and development needs
- Plan how you will address your learning and development needs
- Record and evaluate your learning activity in order to demonstrate to the SRA that you have taken steps to ensure your ongoing competence
- Make an annual declaration to confirm you have completed the above
Free for individuals
This compliance module is completely free for individual solicitors and is available today. Firms will be able to purchase monitoring, reporting and user management tools to automate compliance on an organisational level. Click here to sign up for free.
Features of the continuing competence module
The VinciWorks Continuing Competence Module features everything solicitors and firms needs to comply with the SRA’s new approach to continuing competence.
- Simple user interface to guide solicitors through the reflective learning process
- Mobile friendly
- Robust admin dashboard and reporting to monitor online compliance
- Built-in compliance course with best-practice guidance
According to Yehuda Solomont, director of marketing at VinciWorks, this is the first solution that has been created with direct input from the SRA.
“During the development process, we received guidance from several people at the SRA, including Richard Williams, the senior policy advisor on changes to CPD. As you can see in the video demonstration, VinciWorks’ background in education produced a simple and intuitive interface that naturally guides and educates the user.”
Legalex booth L270
VinciWorks will be demonstrating the software at the Legalex conference at ExCel (booth L270) on 11-12 May.
Sign up for free
To sign up for free visit http://vinciworks.com/competence
To see a full video demonstration visit: http://vinciworks.com/products/continuing_competence_module
