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 Office for Equality and Opportunity and Women and Equalities Unit have published a report by the Behavioural Insights Team into evidence-based...
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) and HM Treasury (HMT) have extended General Licence INT/2022/2085212, regarding sanctioned...
This week's edition of Practice Compliance weekly highlights includes: new OFSI guidance and enforcement action relating to Russian sanctions...
Commercial analysis: On 24 July 2025, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (the ‘Joint Committee’) published its Report on Forced Labour in UK Supply...
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published new guidance to help organisations securely disclose documents containing large volumes of...
Latest Practice Compliance Practice Notes
Cookies and other storage and access technologiesFORTHCOMING CHANGE: On 19 June 2025, the Data (Use and Access) Bill received Royal Assent, becoming...
Cybercrime—issues, threats and vulnerabilitiesCyber risk, like any other risk to your business, needs to be managed properly and considered a high...
Cybercrime preventionCybercrime is a fast-moving, ever-evolving unpredictable risk to all commercial organisations which must be managed properly.This...
New and updated content 2025—Practice ComplianceThis Practice Note tells you, on a month-by-month basis, whether we have made substantive amendments...
Confidentiality risk management guideWhy you need to manage this riskConfidential information is one of the most valuable assets of any business....
Latest Practice Compliance Precedents
Cybersecurity and cybercrime—periodic review1General informationDate of review[Insert date]Person(s) conducting review[Insert name of person(s)...
A to Z of artificial intelligence (AI)—a guide for staffThis document provides a basic explanation of key terms that you may encounter in relation to...
Direct marketing policy—data protection compliance1Introduction1.1This direct marketing policy is intended for members of staff who are involved in...
CDD beneficial ownership discrepancy report form1Instructions on completing this formIf during the course of completing Client Due Diligence (CDD)...
Internal suspicious activity report—SAR—formThis internal suspicious activity report (SAR) form is intended to make the process of submitting SARs to...
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
Annual information return
The SRA requires all firms to provide annual information on a prescribed form.
Legal ombudsman service
A body established to resolve complaints about service standards which are brought against lawyers of England and Wales.
Licence
A Licence is required by an alternative business structure to provide one or more reserved activities (such as probate services or litigation and advocacy).
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