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  McNair: new               chairman
Sole practitioners risk intervention and 'losing everything they have worked for' if they neglect planning for the day they stop practising - delegates at last weekend's annual conference of the Sole Practitioners Group (SPG) in Brighton were warned.


Guildford-based probate solicitor Jennifer Margrave said the Code of Conduct puts clients' interests above all else. Sole practitioners who retired without finding a successor firm for their practice were required to safeguard clients' interests with run-off insurance cover for at least six years.



The code also requires sole practitioners to serve clients' interests during absences and emergencies - such as holidays, long-term sickness and loss of mental capacity.



Margrave said: 'Failure to put provisions in place could invite intervention, with sole practitioners facing hefty fines and losing everything they have worked for all their professional lives.'



Good management, she said, required an exit plan and keeping in touch with other practitioners. Sole practitioners were advised to write a will, grant a general power of attorney to a fellow practitioner who would look after the firm in their temporary absence, and make a lasting power of attorney arrangement to cover death or mental incapacity.



Margrave added that a 'significant minority' of sole practitioners had made no provision for winding down. 'They leave themselves two options, neither of which I'd recommend. They could change their names and move abroad. Or they could keep working until they drop.'



The Solicitors Regulation Authority's professional ethics helpline also offers advice on winding down firms. Contact: 0870 606 2577.



London-based Hamish McNair was formally elected the new chairman of the SPG at last weekend's conference.



Jonathan Rayner