Concept
Practising status
How the firm keeps each lawyer's practising licence, suspends, reinstates or records its surrender, and what the system does when a lawyer without a valid certificate is named on work.
Under the Legal Profession Act, 1960 (Act 32) a lawyer practises only with a valid certificate for the year. Settings, Compliance, Practising status keeps each lawyer's licence and says where they stand.
The licence
Record licence takes the year, who issued it, the day it was issued and the day it runs out, and the fee paid with its receipt number. Correct licence changes the record with a reason kept on its history. The certificate scan is attached on the licence's Overview.
The lawyer, their supervisor and the firm's compliance keepers are told 60, 30 and 7 days before the licence runs out, and on the day; the firm sets the days under Settings, General, people, Licence reminders (days before).
Suspension and surrender
From the licence's menu, Suspend, Reinstate and Record surrender each take the day it takes effect and the reason, and ask for your password again. The History tab keeps every change, by whom and why. A surrendered licence cannot be reinstated; the next year's licence is recorded instead.
When somebody may not practise
The firm decides what happens when a lawyer without a valid certificate is named responsible on a matter, put on its team, listed as counsel at a hearing, or signs for the firm: under Settings, General, compliance, Practising certificate enforcement.
- Warn, the default, lets the work go ahead and says so on screen.
- Block refuses it until a valid licence is recorded.
- Off says nothing.
Every live matter a lapsed, suspended or surrendered lawyer answers for says so on every tab.
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