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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
Practice Compliance analysis: As part of its Immigration and Asylum Bill, which had its second reading in Parliament on 13 July 2026, the government...
The European Commission has announced that EU Member States have adopted the 21st package of sanctions against Russia. The package includes new...
This week's edition of Practice Compliance weekly highlights includes a call for evidence on the Immigration and Asylum Bill, updated sanctions...
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has published its Annual Report and Accounts 2025–2026, setting out its operational performance, strategic priorities...
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has published a targeted report on decentralised finance (DeFi). The report finds that 132 of 143 surveyed...
Latest Practice Compliance Practice Notes
The UK’s domestic sanctions framework is governed by the Sanctions and Anti-money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) and regulations made under it. For...
What are trade sanctions?Trade sanctions are measures which restrict the direct or indirect import and export of goods, non-financial services or...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. For more information, see subtopic: New and updated content in Practice...
What is modern slavery?Modern slavery is a term used to describe forms of slavery, human trafficking and exploitation. The Modern Slavery Act 2015...
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. For more information, see subtopic: New and updated content in Practice...
Latest Practice Compliance Precedents
SummarySlavery and human trafficking remain major issues in world trade, despite the many dedicated efforts to prevent them. As many of you will know,...
1Assemble an incident management teamYou need to be able to demonstrate that you have taken a genuinely proactive approach, so get the right people...
[Insert organisation’s name] will treat the following information as confidential:QuestionsDetailsTenderer’s full name[Insert name]Tenderer’s full...
1CorporateAll Proposals must address the following key criteria:CriteriaDetailsFinancial strength of contracting entity, and other members of its...
GeneralItemDescriptionPurpose of meetingIntroductory meeting between [Insert your name], [insert your job title] and [insert name of Finance...
Latest Practice Compliance Q&As
Featured Practice Compliance content
What is a solicitor's undertaking?
What is a solicitor's undertaking?An undertaking is a commitment by a solicitor to do something. It can be enforced against the solicitor by the...
In what circumstances might a solicitor be able to contact another lawyer's client directly?
SRA Codes 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...
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...
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...
Duties of confidentiality and disclosure
Duties of confidentiality and disclosure 2019The protection of confidential information is a fundamental feature of the solicitor-client relationship...
What is a legal entity identifier (LEI) and does my law firm need one?
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...
Solicitors Regulation Authority
Solicitors Regulation AuthorityThe Solicitors Regulation authority (SRA) is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. It...
When and how can I terminate my retainer?
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...
Client care letter—law firms
Client care letter—law firmsDear [Insert client’s name][Insert heading, eg matter description]Thank you for your instructions to act on your behalf in...
Conflicts of interest—law firms and solicitors
Conflicts of interest 2019Conflicts of interest can cause difficult and serious problems for solicitors and law firms, both from a compliance point of...
If an email is sent to you in error by an opposing party’s solicitor, what obligations does one have to notify the client of its contents? If there is no duty to disclose the contents to the client, is there a duty to let them know that the email has been received but deleted?
SRA Accounts Rules—law firms
SRA Accounts Rules 2019This Practice Note sets out the requirements of the SRA Accounts rules 2019 (the 2019 Rules), in force from 25 November 2019,...
Who owns the matter file—law firms?
Risk management—key risks—law firms
Risk management—key risks—law firmsEffective risk management is fundamental to the commercial success of law firms. To manage risk effectively you...
How to close 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...
Associated legal terms
Communications data
“Communications data”, in relation to a postal operator or postal service, means— (a) postal data comprised in, included as part of, attached to or logically associated with a communication (whether by the sender or otherwise) for the purposes of a postal service by means of which it is being or may be transmitted, (b) information about the use made by any person of a postal service (but excluding any content of a communication (apart from information within paragraph (a)), or (c) information not within paragraph (a) or (b) that is (or is to be or is capable of being) held or obtained by or on behalf of a person providing a postal service, is about those to whom the service is provided by that person and relates to the service so provided.
In-house lawyer
A solicitor, registered European lawyer or registered foreign lawyer who works for a firm which is not regulated by the SRA or another Approved Regulator
Solicitor
A lawyer who is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
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