In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires,—

• “articles” means written articles of clerkship binding a person to serve a solicitor as an articled clerk;

• “authorised insurers” means a person permitted under the M1Insurance Companies Act F11982 to carry on liability insurance business or pecuniary loss insurance business;

• “bank” means—

  1. a

     the Bank of England F2the Post Office, in the exercise of its powers to provide banking services, or F3an institution authorised under the Banking Act 1987; F4. . .

  2. b

     F5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  3. c

     F6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F7“building society” means a building society within the meaning of the Building Societies Act 1986; and a reference to an account with a building society is a reference to a deposit account.

• “the Charter” means the Royal Charter dated 26th February 1845, whereby the Society was incorporated, together with the Royal Charters supplemental to it dated respectively 26th November 1872, 4th June 1903, 2nd June 1909 and 10th March 1954;

• “client” includes—

  1. a

     in relation to contentious business, any person who as a principal or on behalf of another person retains or employs, or is about to retain or employ, a solicitor, and any person who is or may be liable to pay a solicitor’s costs;

  2. b

     in relation to non–contentious business, any person who, as a principal or on behalf of another, or as a trustee or executor, or in any other capacity, has power, express or implied, to retain or employ, and retains or employs or is about to retain or employ, a solicitor, and any person for the time being liable to pay to a solicitor for his services any costs;

• “client account” means an account in the title of which the word “client” is required by rules under section 32;

• “contentious business” means business done, whether as solicitor or advocate, in or for the purposes of proceedings begun before a court or before an arbitrator appointed under the M2Arbitration Act 1950, not being business which falls within the definition of non–contentious or common form probate business contained in F8section 128 of the M3 Supreme Court Act 1981;

• “contentious business agreement” means an agreement made in pursuance of section 59;

• “controlled trust”, in relation to a solicitor, means a trust of which he is a sole trustee or co–trustee only with one or more of his partners or employees;

• “costs” includes fees, charges, disbursements, expenses and remuneration;

• “the Council” means the Council of the Society elected in accordance with the provisions of the Charter and this Act;

• “duly certificated notary public” means a notary public who either—

  1. a

     has in force a practising certificate as a solicitor issued under this Act, and duly entered in the court of faculties of the Archbishop of Canterbury in accordance with rules made by the master of faculties; or

  2. b

     has in force a practising certificate as a notary public issued by the s aid court of faculties in accordance with rules so made;

• “employee” includes an articled clerk;

• “indemnity conditions” has the meaning assigned to it by section 28(2)(b);

• “indemnity rules” means rules under section 37;

• F9“liability insurance business” means insurance business within class 13 in Schedule 2 to the Insurance Companies Act F101982

• “local law society” means a society which is for the time being recognised by the Council as representative of solicitors in some particular part of England and Wales;

• “non–contentious business” means any business done as a solicitor which is not contentious business as defined by this subsection;

• F11“pecuniary loss insurance business” means insurance business within class 1, 2, 14, 15, 16 or 17 in Schedule 2 to the Insurance Companies Act F121982

• “practising certificate” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1;

• F13C1“replacement date”, in relation to a practising certificate, means the date prescribed under section 14(2)(a) or specified by the Society under any regulation made by virtue of section 14(4)(b);

• “the roll” means the list of solicitors of the Supreme Court kept by the Society under section 6;

• “Secretary” of the Society includes any deputy or person appointed temporarily to perform the duties of that office;

• “the Society” means the Law Society, that is to say, the Society incorporated and regulated by the Charter;

• “sole solicitor” means a solicitor who is the sole principal in a practice;

• “solicitor” means solicitor of the Supreme Court;

• “solicitor in Scotland” means a person enrolled or deemed to have been enrolled as a solicitor in pursuance of the M4Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1933;

• F14“the standard scale” has the meaning given by section 37 of the Criminal Justice Act 1982;

• “training conditions” has the meaning assigned to it by section 28(2)(a);

• “training regulations” means regulations under section 2;

• “the Tribunal” means the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal;

• “trust” includes an implied or constructive trust and a trust where the trustee has a beneficial interest in the trust property, and also includes the duties incident to the office of a personal representative, and “trustee” shall be construed accordingly;

• “unqualified person” means a person who is not qualified under section 1 to act as a solicitor.

Except where the context otherwise requires, references in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment as amended or applied by or under any other enactment, including this Act.