Code of Conduct
As at 3rd March, 2025
Introduction
By joining or renewing membership of the Association, all members undertake to comply with the following obligations in order to promote high levels of service to the legal profession. Members also share a collective desire to help develop the legal profession by co-operating internally with other members and externally, by promoting the effective use of IT systems.
If a member fails to adhere to this Code or any part of it, the member will be subject to disciplinary action, in accordance with the rules of Association, and might have its membership terminated.
General Requirements
Members must:
- Agree that the success of the Association and of its members relies upon members behaving as ‘good and upstanding’ suppliers to the legal profession.
- Agree that their membership is publicly confirmed via the Association’s website and in any general publicity material generated by the Association.
- Ensure they make all appropriate principals, directors, managers and key members of staff aware of the requirement to comply with this code of conduct.
- Be solvent, be in good standing with Government agencies and not undertake any action that brings the Association into immediate or potential disrepute.
- Not use their membership as a bargaining tool for commercial advantage or financial gain.
- Provide their customers with a copy of this code of conduct if they request it.
- Ensure that they are adequately covered with professional indemnity insurance to match the size and nature of their business.
- Protect their customers in the event that the members cease trading (through liquidation, for example) and ensure their customers can:
a. Obtain the relevant source code of their software; or
b. Access the relevant functionality of any portals by means of escrow agreements or other appropriate arrangements. - Provide an adequate level of customer service. This should include, for example, training, documentation, support services and online instructions, in order to enable their customers to use the members’ software successfully.
- Recognise that customers have the right to move between software systems and facilitate all such moves by providing customers with their data, including financial records, documents and business templates within a reasonable timescale, in an acceptable format and at a reasonable cost.
- Comply with all relevant Government legislation and statutory requirements, such as GDPR.
- Not induce recommendations from consultants or other advisers or subsequently reward such recommendations financially.
- Not make disparaging or unproven remarks or inaccurate statements about other members, their products or their services.
- Act reasonably and fairly towards customers and other members.
Specific Requirements
Members must:
- Ensure that they explain adequately the details of their products, services and continuing charges, together with the responsibilities of the customer, and document them for inspection. In particular, they should include the following items, where relevant:
a. Charges and processes relating to importing and transforming data from a previous system.
b. The requirements and responsibilities for configuring and setting up the system.
c. All charges relating to adding and removing users.
d. Initial and continued training.
e. The support they provide for the product.
f. Charges and processes to upgrade the product.
g. The ability to access data using third-party tools.
h. Exporting and migrating data and documents to any successor system.
i. Service level agreements.
j. The availability of systems for software which is based in the cloud.
2. Take all reasonable measures to ensure that data integrity is complete and that data relating to customers, employees and members is secure, safe and confidential.
3. Undertake to share a common goal of adopting high standards. Having appropriate security controls has never been more important for members, as the legal industry continues to modernise and as members deliver more services online.
4. Work to be supportive of different groups of individuals, including people of different races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, genders and sexual orientations. The Association supports diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplaces of all its members.
5. Support the principles of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and the need to measure the impact of their business on society and the environment.
6. Follow the correct procedures when releasing customers’ data to external authorities, such as the SRA, police and HMRC. In particular, they should consider doing the following:
a. Confirm the identity of the requestor.
b. Document the request, together with all dialogue surrounding the event, including why the requestor is not approaching the customer directly.
c. Seek a formal “request for information under the Data Protection Act.” This should describe who is seeking what data and why.
d. Identify whether access to this data is possible and, if not, report back that no further action is necessary.
e. Seek permission from the client without “tipping off.”
f. Seek protection against a breach of client confidentiality and require that a court provides a production order to release any data.
g. Liaise fully with the requestor to agree how to word the production order from the court, because only the data specified in the order may be released.
h. Release the agreed data once the court has issued the production order.
i. If the SRA intervenes:
i. Request that the intervening practice provides confirmation in writing.
ii. Ask the SRA to confirm.
iii. Document the request, together with all dialogue surrounding the event.
7. Establish a procedure to handle complaints, which should:
a. Ensure they give a prompt acknowledgement.
b. Ensure they appoint someone with relevant knowledge and authority to investigate the complaint.
c. Provide both parties with the steps for resolution, if any, and formally record them.
d. Provide that the Association can investigate and mediate in any dispute which remains unresolved. Both parties must agree to bear all costs relating such investigation and mediation and must forswear all legal action relating to the dispute.
e. Ensure that members co-operate with the Association and put into effect all decisions it reaches after investigation and mediation.
8. Co-operate with other members to integrate systems where this integration would benefit members’ customers. This does not imply that any such integration work would be free of charge.
Kevin Horlock
Chief Executive 3 March 2025