Higher Rights of Audience

Course Content

Essential details
Stage 1: 24 CPD hours
Stage 2: 18 CPD hours

The course is led by a team of Solicitor Advocates and Barristers with many years’ practising and advocacy experience. The team of trainers
includes Nadim Bashir, Roy Morgan, Andrew Shanahan, Alan Taylor, Chris Reeves-Croft and Peter Tyers-Smith.

Introduction
What are the benefits to becoming a Higher Court Advocate?

• Provide a “one stop” litigation service to your clients
• Enhance your professional status
• Increase your fee income
• Develop your case preparation and advocacy skills
• Our course is SRA accredited for CPD purposes

How to become qualified

There are currently 3 different routes which lead to qualification as a Higher Court Advocate.

Routes to qualification
1. development route
This is available to both trainee solicitors and qualified solicitors. It consists of 3 stages and leads to the “All Proceedings Qualification”.
Trainee solicitors can undertake Stage 1 of the Development Route to satisfy their PSC elective requirement in full. There is no need to pass the Stage 1 written assessment to satisfy the PSC elective requirement.

stage 1 - evidence, procedure & ethics

This is the academic stage of the training and comprises 2 consecutive days of face to face training and also 2 days of tutor-guided distance learning.

This is followed by a 2 hour written assessment with an additional 15 minutes reading time. You choose to specialise in either criminal or civil proceedings, but some time is spent discussing your non-specialist subject and the assessment will reflect this.

stage 2 - advocacy skills

This comprises practical training in either civil or criminal advocacy (as chosen by the delegate) over 3 consecutive days. The training is based
on a case study and prepares the delegates for an assessment on the fourth day. Delegates will be assessed on a trial strategy plan, legal
submission and cross examination of a witness.

stage 3 - portfolio of experience
This must be compiled by candidates to evidence experience of either civil or criminal proceedings, and then submitted to the SRA.

Kaplan Altior can offer assistance on how to compile your Portfolio

2. accreditation route
This is available only to solicitors with at least 3 years PQE. They must demonstrate to the SRA that they have sufficient knowledge and experience in the Higher Courts to exempt them from having to
undertake training and assessment in Evidence, Procedure and Ethics. Before commencing the course, a solicitor must obtain a Certificate of
Eligibility from the SRA to demonstrate this.

The SRA has confirmed that solicitors with 3 years’ post qualification experience may still take the ‘accreditation route’ until 31 December
2009.

Delegates must still undergo the advocacy assessment and, as with stage 2 of the development route, they choose between a civil and a criminal based assessment.

Unlike the development route, delegates do not need to attend the advocacy training but, as it is designed to help delegates pass the assessment, we strongly recommend candidates do so.

3. exemption route
Solicitors with many years’ experience of practice may be exempt from all training and assessment requirements.

In-house programmes
Some firms are choosing to run Higher Rights training and assessment in-house.

Locations & dates
Stage 1:
Evidence, Procedure and Ethics (Civil & Criminal)
Cardiff 12, 13 & 18 November 2009
Leeds 10, 11 & 14 December 2009
London 22, 23 & 26 October 2009

Stage 2:
Advocacy Skills (Civil & Criminal)
Cardiff 13 - 16 October 2009
London 27 - 30 October 2009
1 - 4 December 2009*
Manchester 17 - 20 November 2009
* criminal only