The Solicitors Regulation Authority has appointed a former magic circle lawyer to advise it on the regulation of City law firms. The SRA also announced today that six firms of various sizes will take part in its pilot of outcomes-focused regulation.
Nick Eastwell, a former partner at Linklaters, will become the SRA’s chief adviser on City law firms from 1 November.
Eastwell, who spent 29 years at Linklaters, including 21 as a partner, will advise the SRA’s executive and board, acting as a ‘bridgehead’ between the SRA and City firms.
Eastwell will ‘provide additional quality assurance on the outcomes of SRA piloting work with the City’ and ‘general expertise’ on ‘helping the SRA to understand and work with non-City firms which use complex funding approaches', the SRA said.
Eastwell was previously Linklaters’ global head of capital markets and regional managing partner for emerging Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
SRA chair Charles Plant said: ‘It is essential that we at the SRA have a full understanding of the issues which arise in all sectors of the solicitors’ profession, and that there is mutual confidence between the profession and the regulator.
‘There was a perception among the largest commercial firms that we did not fully understand the nature of their work. We have now addressed that concern in a number of ways.
‘The missing link has been the recruitment of a prominent practitioner to offer special advice to our executive team and board, and to help further enhance the confidence of clients and firms that the SRA has the appropriate skills and approach.’
Eastwell said: ‘I am very excited about the prospect of working with the SRA with its new focus on the City and City law firms, particularly in the context of the new regulatory regime and the introduction of multidisciplinary practices and alternative business structures.’
As part of the SRA’s relationship management pilot, one ‘global’ firm; two national firms with different business models; a medium-sized commercial firm; a small firm undertaking a mix of commercial and private client work; and a sole practitioner will work with the SRA to test outcomes-focused regulation ahead of its launch in October 2011.
Relationship manager Suchitra Hammond said: ‘We are delighted with the number and range of responses we have received so far from firms wanting to take part. We have now selected six firms to form the first wave of the pilot. During October and November we will select two further waves of firms to join the pilot.’
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