Solicitor and Lay Members are appointed by the Master of the Rolls for a 3 year term which he may renew.

Vacancies in the Tribunal membership occur from time to time and those who seek appointment are invited to apply in the first instance to:

The Clerk to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal Gate House 1 Farringdon Street London EC4M 7NS

The Clerk will send you an application form for completion. The following should be noted.

(a) Membership of the Tribunal involves a commitment to devote sufficient time to the Tribunal's affairs. This will probably amount to about 12 days sitting in a year plus time needed for preparation and (after the hearing) settling findings (estimated at a further 12 days).

(b) Tribunal Members are expected to attend an annual training day and the Tribunal's AGM which is usually held towards the end of May each year. Tribunal Members may also need time to make sure they are up to date with practice and procedure before the Tribunal and current legal issues affecting its work.

(c) Cases in the recent past have been tending to be contested to a greater extent and to last longer. Tribunal Members may therefore be asked to sit for more than one day consecutively. Occasionally there is a need for a sitting which is estimated to last longer than 2 days.

(d) Solicitor Members at present are not remunerated but receive reimbursement of expenses from the Law Society

(e) The Tribunal welcomes applications from solicitors for membership from a wide number of sources and no application will be disadvantaged because of geographical location or the size of practice or firm nor race, creed, colour, ethnic origin or sexual orientation. The Tribunal is only interested in securing the most suitable applicants who are willing and able to devote the necessary time to the performance of their duties.

(f) Solicitor applicants should note the following statutory requirements:-

(i) a member of the Tribunal must be of not less than 10 years' standing.

(ii) no member of the Tribunal may be a member of the Council of the Law Society.

(g) Lay Members may not be members of the legal profession i.e. barristers or solicitors.

(h) the Tribunal seeks Lay Members from a wide and diverse constituency not necessarily from those who have some connection with or specialised knowledge of solicitors' practices. Short biographical details of existing Lay Members will be found at the back of the last annual report.

(i) No application will be disadvantaged because of the race, creed, colour, ethnic origin or sexual orientation of the applicant. The Tribunal is only interested in securing the most suitable applicants who are willing and able to devote the necessary time to the performance of their duties.

(j) Lay Members are currently remunerated by the Lord Chancellor's Department at the rate of £242 per day together with out of pocket expenses.

Hearings will usually take place in the Tribunal's Court Room at Gate House, 1 Farringdon Street, London EC4 and usually commence at 10. a.m. A sandwich lunch is provided.

The Solicitors Act 1974 and Rules made thereunder provide for hearings before a division of the Tribunal consisting of 2 Solicitor Members (one of whom acts as Chairman) and 1 Lay Member.