What's happening? Big court decision? Massive European judgement about widgets?

Nope - as of 6 October 2011, firms must ensure that notepaper, website and emails say "Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority”. Yawn!

This is all down to page 22 of the new SRA Handbook (the 'Outcomes' Section) which takes effect on the 6th.  Other statutory requirements also continue to apply, including the E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC and the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002.

Although this rule applies to letterheads, there is some comfort found in a letter from Samantha Barrass of the SRA in the Gazette of 22 September 2011. This said that although email footers, websites and computer templates can be changed relatively easily, the SRA would be "happy for firms to use up [existing] stocks and change their headed paper as soon as practicable in the next few months” in order to avoid waste.

So there you have it. The SRA is turning all green on us.

Box Legal Limited: After the Event Insurance Providers
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