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
Law360, London: A Lloyd's of London broker is scheduled to stand trial in 2027 over allegations it failed to prevent its associates in the US from...
The European Commission has launched a public consultation to inform the implementation of the EU AI Act's provisions on high-risk artificial...
This week's edition of Practice Compliance weekly highlights includes: analysis of outcomes from the cross-government review of sanctions...
MLex: The European Commission is considering postponing the entry into application of the EU AI Act following controversy around a code of practice...
Corporate Crime analysis: On 15 May 2025, the UK government published the first cross-government review of sanctions implementation and enforcement....
Latest Practice Compliance Practice Notes
Criminal records—asking questions and DBS checksThis Practice Note considers the extent to which employers can ask questions of a prospective employee...
Handling complaints—law firmsComplaints are a business risk that cannot be avoided completely. It is a regulatory requirement to have a complaints...
How to manage virtual meetingsVirtual meetings can be held over the telephone, via video call or using virtual meeting software, and can be far more...
How to manage remote teamsMany managers are concerned about managing teams they don’t see in person on a regular basis, but there are plenty of...
Team meetingsThe most effective legal teams are constantly looking to the future, anticipating changes in their organisation and industry and how best...
Latest Practice Compliance Precedents
Strategic business plan—commercial1Executive summary/introduction1.1This business plan has been prepared following a series of discussions between the...
Explanatory notes—CDD matter risk assessment—law firmsThese explanatory notes accompany our CDD matter risk assessment form and provide guidance on...
Third party funds investigation record1Introduction and instructions1.1Money launderers can seek to disguise the source of funds by having payments...
CDD matter risk assessment form—law firmsThis CDD matter risk assessment form is intended to reflect risks identified in the anti-money laundering...
Explanatory notes—CDD client risk assessment—law firmsThese explanatory notes accompany our CDD client risk assessment form and provide guidance on...
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
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).
Postal service
“Postal service” means a service that— (a) consists in the following, or in any one or more of them, namely, the collection, sorting, conveyance, distribution and delivery (whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) of postal items, and (b) has as its main purpose, or one of its main purposes, to make available, or to facilitate, a means of transmission from place to place of postal items containing communications.
SRA principles
The SRA Principles preface the SRA Handbook and set out mandatory and fundamental requirements for ethical behaviour and practice for those individuals and firms regulated by the SRA.
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