CPD: how to comply

The guidance regarding continuing professional development (CPD) changed on 1 November 2011. For many solicitors there will be no – or little difference – in how they conduct their CPD.

The minimum number of hours that a solicitor must undertake on an annual basis remains at 20 hours and, within that, up to five hours may be claimed as private study. There are some new requirements, however, and what follows is a quick overview of how to comply.

Planning: the right focus

Mandatory planning has been introduced to help ensure that members identify areas of development which are relevant and support their careers; to prevent a culture of “doing CPD for CPD’s sake” as the end of the practice year looms; to provide members with a practical and flexible approach to professional development; and to ensure a transparent and measurable approach to CPD.

Solicitors may use their own system of planning (e.g. if the firm has such technology or, alternatively, in a paper-based way). Alternatively, solicitors may wish to plan their annual CPD with the Society via their member’s login. Solicitors who do use this facility will get quarterly updates reminding them of how much CPD they have recorded over the course of the year.

The Society doesn’t, and couldn’t, expect solicitors to plan every single hour of CPD they expect to do over a year. It is therefore acceptable for the plan to be more general and focus on areas. “I need an update in a particular area of legal knowledge”, “I need an anti-money laundering training update”, “I need to undertake negotiation training”, etc.

Recording and justifying

Solicitors have always required to record CPD, and that does not change. The new guidance sets out that solicitors must also justify – or reflect – upon their CPD activity.

What this means is that on completion of a CPD activity, solicitors should – regardless of the system they are using – consider:

• Reason for undertaking this activity
• What did you learn from the event?
• How will you apply this to your practice?
• Do you need any further CPD in this area?

All solicitors will be required to plan, record and justify their annual CPD. There is no prescription as to how much solicitors need to write. An example might be, having undertaken anti-money laundering CPD:

The Society strongly encourages solicitors to record, and justify, all CPD activity (including that taken over and above the minimum 20 hours).

Verifiable CPD

The previous CPD guidance required solicitors to undertake group training. This provision meant that lots of useful and relevant CPD activity could not be claimed because it did not meet the group requirements.

That isn’t to say that solicitors won’t continue to study in groups – many will, of course, but the shift to verifiable should allow other ways of learning to be incorporated.

A minimum of 15 hours of CPD must be verifiable. By “verifiable” the Society means that the CPD activity should meet the following criteria:
(1) Have educational aims and objectives relevant to your development;
(2) Have clearly anticipated outcomes (e.g. what do you expect to learn from attending the course)
(3) Have quality controls (e.g. you should be given the opportunity to give feedback or ask questions
(4) Be able to be evidenced

For solicitors who need more information, extensive guidance (including a downloadable handbook incorporating FAQs) can be found here: www.lawscot.org.uk/members/membership-and-registrar/cpd