Mutual access plea for Brexit deal

The ‘shape of a deal’ on Brexit is now ‘clear’, prime minister Theresa May has said, despite disagreement over the Northern Ireland backstop stalling talks.

Since May’s speech to Parliament this week, however, European Council president Donald Tusk has said ‘we need new facts’ and called for ‘concrete proposals to break the impasse’. He said he had no ‘grounds for optimism’ a deal will be reached at this week’s EU summit.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that about 700 registered European lawyers (RELs) would lose the right to practise in December 2020, under a ‘no deal’ Brexit. Moreover, no new REL applications could be made from 11pm on the day of exit, 29 March 2019. RELs and EU lawyers seeking to practise in England and Wales would therefore have to requalify as a solicitor or barrister or become Registered Foreign Lawyers. Last week the government published its latest technical notice on leaving the EU, ‘Providing services including those of a qualified professional if there’s no Brexit deal’.

The regime for regulating RELs will end, subject to a transitional period lasting to the end of December 2020. Under the regime, RELs register with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and can provide the full range of legal services, including working as a sole practitioner.

The SRA has written to all RELs, explaining how they will be affected. Applications received but still being processed on exit day will be honoured, and applicants allowed to practise until December 2020.

It said RELs will be able to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales through the Qualifying Lawyer Transfer Scheme (QLTS) and the new Solicitors Qualifying Examination, due to be introduced at the earliest in autumn 2020.

Christina Blacklaws, president of the Law Society, said firms would incur ‘a significant amount of expense’ to find ways around the issue. The government’s notice also provided no answers for UK lawyers in the EU, who could face different barriers in each of the 30 EU/EEA countries, she said. ‘That’s why we continue to call on the government to put mutual market access at the heart of its Brexit priorities.’