The role of supervising solicitors in search and seizure orders

What is a supervising solicitor?

Whenever the Court makes a search order, be that for someone’s home, office or their electronic storage devices, a supervising solicitor is required to serve the search order and be present during its execution. A supervising solicitor acts as an independent officer of the court and, whilst paid by the applicant, must be entirely independent.

The role of the supervising solicitor is extremely important, especially when a search or seizure is being conducted in the home of a child or vulnerable person. Where multiple sites are involved, an experienced team of supervising solicitors will often be required.

At the beginning of a search, the supervising solicitor will explain to the respondent their various rights and entitlements. They then oversee the entire search procedure to ensure nobody is going beyond the remit of the court order. Finally, the supervising solicitor will prepare a report to the court which sets out what happened on the day(s) of the search and lists what items were disclosed and handed over.

When do you need a supervising solicitor?

Part 25 of the Civil Procedure Rules requires a supervising solicitor who is independent of the parties to obtain and serve certain orders.

These orders include:

• Search orders: Also known as an “Anton Piller order,” a search order is usually made in relation to civil fraud, breach of confidentiality, patent, copyright and passing-off cases. They may involve searching the defendant’s home, business or other locations.
• Freezing orders: Also known as a Mareva injunction, a freezing order prevents someone from moving or selling their assets.
• Doorstep delivery up orders (“DDOs”): The order to hand over specific documents to the ‘doorstep’ of the solicitor.
• Computer imaging orders: This is an order requiring a party to permit a forensic computer expert to create a copy – “image” – of the contents of media stored on electronic devices in order to preserve evidence.

When the court orders a search of premises as part of a legal case, you will require a supervising solicitor to execute that order. This might be relating to a case of financial fraud, breach of confidence, or an intellectual property dispute amongst other circumstances.

If the search goes awry and the search order is wrongly executed, it can lead to the entire order being declared invalid and the evidence seized being ruled inadmissible. Not only is this a significant wasted cost on fees for lawyers, agents and the supervising solicitor, but it will materially damage the claimant’s case and open them up to reproval at the next hearing.

Who appoints a supervising solicitor?

The supervising solicitor is an independent officer of the court and appointed by them, though they are paid by the claimant’s legal team. They must be independent of the applicant, respondent and all solicitors on both sides. The claimant will recommend to the court the supervising solicitor who they wish to appoint when making their application.

The court will then confirm the appointment of the supervising solicitor who meets the above independence requirements and has experience in the execution of search and seizure orders.

Choosing who to appoint as your supervising solicitor is crucial; the successful execution of any search order or DDO depends on their ability to build strong working relationships with parties on both sides of the dispute. In multi-site searches, having someone with a flexible diary who can call upon a national squad of experienced supervising solicitors is also important.

The sooner you involve a supervising solicitor the better; they play a pivotal role in how well a search goes on the day. Furthermore, a supervising solicitor will want to gather a team around them, communicate with the respondents, and establish a search site before they even consider executing a search. Leaving as much time as possible for the supervising solicitor to orchestrate this greatly improves your chances of a successful operation.

HCR Law for supervising solicitor services

HCR is a leading law firm with 10 offices throughout the UK. We have several experienced supervising solicitors in our ranks who, alongside a large team of litigators based across the country, can guide you through the entire process from inception to conclusion.

Find out more about our supervising solicitor services here.