Solicitors for the Elderly membership opens to Scots paralegals

Solicitors for the Elderly, the training and best practice organisation for lawyers specialising in older and vulnerable clients, has opened its membership to paralegals across Scotland.

SFE is an independent, national organisation of over 1,600 professionals. Its membership helps elderly and vulnerable clients, and those planning for later life, to find a specialist they can trust. 

Becoming a member provides paralegals with access to support and guidance through specialist training programmes, events and networking.

To become a member, paralegals must have been registered (now accredited) with the Law Society of Scotland for a minimum of three years and currently spend at least half of their time working on older client law cases.

Before joining, members are also required to complete SFE’s externally accredited qualification, the SFE Older Client Care in Practice Award (OCCP), which ensures members have relevant soft skills, whilst helping them to provide the best legal advice on specialist areas such as wills, power of attorneys and elder abuse.

Elspeth Paget, SFE’s regional coordinator in Scotland, commented: “Paralegals are often involved with drafting wills, assisting elderly clients with care arrangements, financial affairs, as well as bereaved families with executry administration. It’s important that we equip them with the knowledge needed to support these elderly and vulnerable clients, whilst give them access to training and guidance which covers relevant soft skills.”

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