The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued guidance to help solicitors communicate and engage effectively with children in the youth courts. It outlines key points to consider when communicating and engaging with children and explains why communication and engagement are essential, highlighting that children in the youth justice system often experience vulnerabilities that may affect their ability to understand proceedings, trust legal professionals and participate effectively.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has released a set of guidance materials, primarily aimed at the 34,500+ in-house solicitors across England and Wales but also including guidance on internal investigations applicable to all firms and solicitors, not just those working in-house. The guidance, developed following stakeholder feedback and a 2023 thematic review, addresses unique challenges faced by in-house legal professionals. It covers areas such as client identification, reporting wrongdoing, legal professional privilege, ethical obligations, and risk management. Notably, it includes advice for non-solicitor employers to enhance understanding of solicitors' professional obligations.  The SRA has incorporated feedback from consultations on drafts of the guidance, resulting in more practical examples, expanded information on third-party work and conflicts of interest, and clearer guidance on internal investigations. The SRA aims to support in-house solicitors in navigating their roles and highlighting their value in promoting ethical behaviour within organisations.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued new guidance for law firms working on claims management activity, and issued a warning to firms working on financial compensation claims. The warning notice focuses on firms’ potential approaches to claims and the need to uphold their professional obligations. The SRA states it is concerned about improper practices such as firms acting and generating costs before gaining client consent, poor due diligence during client onboarding and failures to act promptly or adequately in response to client instructions. The guidance covers all of these issues and wider areas such as working with third parties, levels of charges and specific issues including the need to explain to clients the nature of after-the-event insurance used in no win, no fee cases.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a warning notice on the use of ‘no win, no fee’ and other fee arrangements in high-volume consumer claims (HVCC). The warning notice applies to all SRA-regulated firms and individuals involved in HVCC work, including those using ‘no win, no fee’ terminology in marketing materials or contractual documentation, such as conditional fee agreements (CFAs) and damages-based agreements (DBAs). It follows concerns identified in the SRA’s August 2025 thematic review, which found widespread poor practice and failures to comply with its Standards and Regulations.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a warning notice on mergers, acquisitions and sales of law firms. The notice reminds all relevant firms and solicitors who are in the process of acquiring other law firms, or seeking to sell or merge their law firm with another regulated entity, that they should ensure the clients’ interests are paramount during such transactions. The SRA notes that managers should always make sure that acquisitional growth does not lead to ineffective governance structures, systems or controls that could cause detriment to clients or undermine trust in the legal profession. The notice also sets out potential breaches that could occur, such as failing to prioritise clients’ interests, inadequate due diligence, failing to report indicators of financial difficulty to the SRA, and not appointing solicitor managers when a firm enters administration or liquidation.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued a warning notice to law firms, particularly those engaged in high-volume claims work, regarding prohibited marketing practices such as cold calling and unsolicited approaches. The notice addresses concerns about firms' recruitment of clients through potentially unethical means, including the use of third-party introducers. The SRA emphasises the need for firms to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements when marketing to potential clients, especially in relation to 'no win, no fee' agreements. To support this, the SRA has published a consumer guide on 'no win, no fee' arrangements. The regulator warns that it will take action against firms found to be in breach of SRA principles.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a consultation on its 2025/26 Business Plan, proposing a £16.3m budget increase to £86.5m. The plan outlines changes to regulatory fees, with individual practising certificate fees rising from £164 to £190, while compensation fund contributions will decrease from £90 to £70. The changes respond to a 40% increase in monthly investigations, growing complexity in cases, and emerging risks in the high-volume consumer claims market. The SRA reports concluding 18% more cases than the previous year despite increased workload. The consultation runs from 8 May to 19 June 2025.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a consultation on proposed amendments to its first-tier complaints rules. The consultation focuses on improving the regulation of complaints handling by law firms. The SRA is also developing guidance to help firms comply and improve data collection on complaints in order to identify trends and resolve issues earlier.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a consultation on proposals to strengthen its continuing competence regime. The proposed changes would require all solicitors to maintain a record of how they identify and address their learning and development needs, and to confirm this through a formal declaration. The SRA is also proposing that all solicitors participate in annual mandatory ethics discussions. The consultation closes on 15 July 2026.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a consultation on proposed changes to their regulatory arrangements to allow them to regulate those CILEX members that are not authorised to carry on any reserved legal activities. This includes, CILEX students, paralegals and affiliates who are known throughout the consultation collectively as non-authorised CILEX members. The consultation runs from 20 March 2024 until 15 May 2024.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has opened a consultation on proposed changes to its approach to issuing financial penalties to law firms and solicitors. Proposals include: new fining bands for more serious misconduct, changes to the way in calculating which fining band a given case may fall under, and amends to the SRA’s published fining guidance to make clear that once fine levels have been set, they will be increased further by the amount of any financial gain that resulted from the misconduct. The consultation will close on 20 September 2024.

The SRA has launched a review of its approach to consumer protection to ensure consumers are appropriately protected when using regulated law firms. The review will focus on how to reduce the risk of issues occurring in regulated law firms that cause harm to consumers, and compensation fund arrangements in cases of consumer losses. The SRA will hold a webinar on 19 February 2024 for the public to share views and ask questions.