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Why all the gloom and doom?
Why all the cynicism?
When I qualified there was no CPD. You were just expected to make sure that you kept up to date with the law. Reading the Gazette, browsing the law reports and attending those lectures/ conferences and so on that seemed interesting and relevant.
Then along came CPD and a whole training industry was established. Just think: 130,000 solicitors at 16 hours each per year equates to about one thousand man hours of training every year.
We all moaned and groaned when it happened, about the waste of time and the expense, and then we all got used to trawling through the available courses, and selecting the cheapest and nearest that seemed vaguely relevant, and got on with our lives.
Now the clock is being reset to where it was, with a few small buttons added.
All you are going to have to do is:
1. Think about what you need to do to maintain and improve your skills as a solicitor. (Don't you subconsciously do this all the time?)
2. Decide what if anything you need to do to accomplish that.
3. Do it by whatever route seems best - go on a course, read a book, research it on the internet, talk to other solicitors or whatever.
4. Having done all that you should be able feel you are competent to practise as a solicitor.
The only added suggestion is to formalise the above (making notes) so that you have record of what you have been up to - partly for your own peace of mind, and partly in case the SRA come in with their big boots on.
Why all the fuss?