Undertakings and the court

Published by a 老司机午夜福利 Practice Compliance expert

Practice notes

Undertakings and the court

Published by a 老司机午夜福利 Practice Compliance expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note explains:

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what powers the court has to enforce undertakings
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when it is likely to exercise those powers

Breach of an undertaking is also likely to be professional Misconduct and can be dealt with by the SRA, although the SRA cannot itself enforce compliance with an undertaking. For more guidance, see Practice Note: Undertakings and the SRA. You should be cautious about accepting undertakings from freelance solicitors and non-SRA firms, including solicitors working in non-SRA firms. For more guidance, see Practice Note: Dealing with freelance solicitors.

You should also be aware that the court does not have inherent jurisdiction over incorporated law firms (companies and Limited Liability partnerships). This is explained at section: The court鈥檚 inherent jurisdiction.

What is an undertaking?

An undertaking is:

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a statement, given orally or in writing (whether or not it includes the word 'undertake' or 'undertaking')
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to someone who reasonably places reliance on it
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that you or a third party will do something or cause something to be done, or refrain from doing something

All

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Misconduct definition

What does Misconduct mean?

The term to describe an act of misconduct by the employee.