About Practice Compliance
Every law firm has a legal duty to comply with the SRA Handbook and a raft of other legislation and regulations. Get it wrong and you personally face investigation, disciplinary action, fines and prosecution (not to mention the damage to your reputation).
GDPR compliance
Practical guidance tools, registers, training aids and other templates to help you comply with data protection law and manage privacy risks
SRA Handbook
Every law firm has a legal duty to comply with the SRA Handbook and a raft of other legislation and regulations. Get it wrong and you personally face investigation, disciplinary action, fines and prosecution.
Topics We Cover
Our Practice Compliance Experts
Melanie O'Brien
David Gilmore
Sarah Mumford
Iain Miller
Susanna Heley
Latest Practice Compliance News
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has initiated an investigation into suspected bribery and corruption involving the multi-national aviation and defence...
The Law Society of England and Wales has published guidance on disability terminology and language to support employers and employees in the...
HM Treasury (HMT)and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) have released an advisory concerning the Oil Price Cap (OPC) regime. The...
Law360, London: The legal tools to hold companies accountable for environmental issues are expanding at an accelerating pace....
Our new Practice Compliance forecast (as at 20 November 2024) is now live. This month we report on items including: (1) publication of the...
Latest Practice Compliance Practice Notes
Internal investigations and legal professional privilegeLegal professional privilege (LPP) protects documents from disclosure to third parties...
Sanctions evasion—risks and warning signsSanctions are intended to have a serious effect on the individuals, organisations and regimes they target....
Websites—compliance requirementsThis Practice Note provides guidance on the key legal and compliance requirements that a website operator should...
Digital advertising channels—introductionFORTHCOMING CHANGE: On 24 May 2024, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill received Royal...
Children and data protection lawIn briefData protection laws in the UK seek to ensure information about living individuals (within the definition of...
Latest Practice Compliance Precedents
Website terms and conditions of useFORTHCOMING CHANGE: On 24 May 2024, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill received Royal Assent,...
Anti-bribery and corruption—agents and intermediaries policy1Introduction1.1We run our business[es] with integrity. All of us must work together to...
Financial crime prevention—briefing for external agents/intermediaries1IntroductionCompliance with financial crime prevention laws is critical to...
Crime prevention quarterly monitoring record1General informationReview period[Insert review period]Date of review[Insert date]Person(s) conducting...
PII claim or circumstance notification to insurer1Your detailsFirm name[Insert name]Policy number[Insert number]Contact name[Insert name]Contact...
Latest Practice Compliance Q&As
Featured Practice Compliance content
SRA Code of Conduct for individuals and firms
SRA Code of Conduct for individuals and firmsThis Practice Note provides guidance on the SRA Codes of Conduct, contained in the SRA Standards and...
Duties of confidentiality and disclosure 2019
Duties of confidentiality and disclosure 2019The protection of confidential information is a fundamental feature of the solicitor-client relationship...
Conflicts of interest 2019
Conflicts of interest 2019Conflicts of interest can cause difficult and serious problems for solicitors and law firms, both from a compliance point of...
Working with foreign lawyers—the Registered Foreign Lawyer (RFL) regime
Working with foreign lawyers—the Registered Foreign Lawyer (RFL) regimeThe Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) operates a registration regime for...
Undertakings and the court
Undertakings and the courtThis Practice Note explains:•what powers the court has to enforce undertakings•when it is likely to exercise those...
Compliance officer for legal practice—COLP—title and duties 2011 [Archived]
Compliance officer for legal practice—COLP—title and duties 2011 [Archived]The compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) sits at the heart of the...
Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) practice management standards—Precedents content map
Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) practice management standards—Precedents content mapThe Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) is a quality...
Acting for yourself, friends and family
Acting for yourself, friends and familyThis Practice Note covers considerations where a law firm wishes to act for one of its own partners or...
Money Laundering Regulations 2017—source of funds and source of wealth
Money Laundering Regulations 2017—source of funds and source of wealthSource of funds and wealth was a key focus of the SRA’s Preventing Money...
Pre-employment checks—law firms
Pre-employment checks—law firmsWhile the application form and interview process will give you some assurances as to a candidate's suitability for a...
What are the ramifications for a solicitor who does not comply with Law Society Formula B undertakings and/or did not hold their client's part of the contract at the point of exchange? If the contract later comes into dispute does an action lie with that solicitor or their firm?
When and how can I terminate my retainer?
Solicitors Regulation Authority
Solicitors Regulation AuthorityThe Solicitors Regulation authority (SRA) is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. It...
Risk management policy—law firms
Risk management policy—law firms1Introduction1.1Risk management is central to the regulatory regime under which we operate. [Insert name of firm] is...
Money laundering compliance officer—law firms
Money laundering compliance officer—law firmsThis Practice Note is intended for law firms that are subject to the Money Laundering, Terrorist...
Client conflicts in conveyancing or property matters—when can you act?
Client conflicts in conveyancing or property matters—when can you act?There are two types of conflict: own interest conflicts (sometimes called...
Closing a client matter—law firms
Closing a client matter—law firmsClosing a client matter properly is a basic client care, risk management and housekeeping requirement. There are also...
Dealing with freelance solicitors
Dealing with freelance solicitorsFrom 25 November 2019, the SRA Standards and Regulations introduced a new method of practising: the freelance...
Associated legal terms
Financial benefit
Includes the discharge of a financial obligation for which the target is wholly or partly responsible.
Offshoring
The relocation of work that a law firm or in-house team would normally perform to another country.
Postal data
“Postal data” means data which— (a) identifies, or purports to identify, any person, apparatus or location to or from which a communication is or may be transmitted, (b) identifies or selects, or purports to identify or select, apparatus through which, or by means of which, a communication is or may be transmitted, (c) identifies, or purports to identify, the time at which an event relating to a communication occurs, or (d) identifies the data or other data as data comprised in, included as part of, attached to or logically associated with a particular communication. For the purposes of this definition “data”, in relation to a postal item, includes anything written on the outside of the item.
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