For the purposes of this section, an authorised person is someone who is authorised to conduct litigation, such as a solicitor regulated by the SRA or another lawyer with equivalent litigation rights (such as Fellows of CILEx). An unauthorised person includes paralegals, trainees, legal assistants and other personnel who do not themselves possess rights to conduct litigation. Most Keystone lawyers will be authorised persons, but many of those who support them will not.
The Court of Appeal's decision in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP confirmed that litigation work may be delegated to unauthorised persons working within a regulated legal practice, provided that an authorised person retains ultimate responsibility for the work and exercises appropriate direction, management and supervision.
The appropriate level of supervision will depend upon the circumstances, including:
There is no prescribed supervision ratio. However, supervision arrangements must be capable of demonstrating that the authorised lawyer remains in effective control of the matter and is able to identify and correct issues as they arise.
The supervising lawyer remains accountable for work carried out through others. Delegation does not transfer responsibility. Where litigation work is delegated, the file should make clear who is responsible for the matter, how supervision is being exercised and how key decisions are being reviewed. If there is any doubt as to whether the proposed supervision arrangements are adequate, guidance should be sought from the Compliance Team.
Where litigation work is delegated, the file should make clear who is responsible for the matter, how supervision is being exercised and how key decisions are being reviewed. If there is any doubt as to whether the proposed supervision arrangements are adequate, guidance should be sought from the Compliance Team.