SRA Compliance: A Guide for Law Firms

The Compliance Challenge for Law Firms

Running a law firm means operating under one of the most demanding regulatory frameworks in professional services. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) sets standards that cover everything from client care and complaints handling to anti-money laundering, data protection, and financial management. Staying on top of these obligations, while also running a business and serving clients, is a significant challenge, particularly for smaller firms without dedicated compliance departments.

RCU provides practical, hands-on compliance support designed to help law firms meet their regulatory obligations efficiently and confidently. Whether you need ongoing compliance management, help preparing for accreditation, or guidance through an SRA investigation, our team has the expertise to support you.

Compliance Support

Outsourced COLP and COFA Roles

Every SRA-regulated law firm must appoint a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and a Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA). These are critical roles with personal regulatory responsibility, and the individuals holding them must ensure that the firm complies with all SRA requirements.

For many firms, particularly smaller practices, finding the right person internally to fill these roles can be difficult. RCU offers outsourced COLP and COFA support, providing experienced compliance professionals who can fulfil these functions on your behalf or work alongside your existing compliance officers to strengthen your firm’s regulatory position.

What Compliance Support Covers

RCU’s compliance support extends across the full range of SRA regulatory requirements:

SRA Standards and Regulations: Ensuring your firm’s policies, procedures, and practices align with the current SRA Standards and Regulations, including the Principles, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, and Code of Conduct for Firms.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML): Compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, including customer due diligence procedures, risk assessments, and suspicious activity reporting.
Data Protection: Meeting your obligations under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, including data mapping, privacy notices, subject access request procedures, and breach notification protocols.
Complaints Handling: Implementing and maintaining a complaints procedure that meets SRA requirements and provides a clear, fair process for clients who are dissatisfied with your service.
Systems and Controls: Designing and implementing the internal systems and controls that the SRA expects firms to have in place, from file management and supervision arrangements to risk registers and compliance monitoring.
Breach Assessment: When things go wrong (and in any busy firm, they occasionally do), assessing the severity of a compliance breach, determining reporting obligations, and managing the firm’s response.

Pricing

Compliance support packages start from £350 per month, with the scope and cost tailored to the size of your firm, the complexity of your practice areas, and the level of support you need.

Accreditations: Lexcel and CQS

What Are Lexcel and CQS?

Lexcel and the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) are quality standards administered by the Law Society. Achieving and maintaining these accreditations demonstrates to clients, referrers, and lenders that your firm operates to a high standard of practice management and client care.

Lexcel: A comprehensive practice management standard covering leadership, risk management, client care, people management, file and case management, and financial management. Applicable to all types of legal practice.
CQS: A specialist quality mark for residential conveyancing practices. Many mortgage lenders require their panel firms to hold CQS accreditation, making it essential for conveyancing work.

How RCU Supports Accreditation

Preparing for Lexcel or CQS assessment can be time-consuming and stressful, particularly if you are going through the process for the first time. RCU provides practical support at every stage:

Gap analysis: We review your current policies, procedures, and practices against the accreditation requirements to identify what needs to change, what needs to be created, and what is already compliant.
Mock file reviews: Before the assessor arrives, we conduct detailed reviews of your files to identify any issues that could cause problems during the assessment. This is one of the most valuable preparatory steps, as it gives you time to address problems before they are flagged by the assessor.
Fee earner interviews: Lexcel and CQS assessments include interviews with fee earners to test their understanding of the firm’s procedures. We conduct practice interviews so your team knows what to expect and can respond confidently.
Pre-audit reviews: A final check of everything before assessment day, ensuring that documentation is complete, files are in order, and the firm is ready.
Ongoing maintenance: Accreditations are not one-off achievements; they require ongoing compliance. We help firms maintain their accredited status through regular reviews and updates.

Learning and Development

The New Competence Framework

Since November 2016, the SRA has operated a new continuing competence framework that replaced the previous system of counting CPD hours. Under the current regime, solicitors are expected to reflect on their practice, identify areas for development, and address any gaps in their knowledge or skills. There is no longer a fixed number of hours to complete, but the obligation to maintain competence is no less important.

This shift means that the quality and relevance of learning activity matters far more than the quantity. Training should be targeted, practical, and directly relevant to the work you do.

Training Courses Available

RCU delivers training across the key areas of regulatory compliance that affect law firms:

Anti-Money Laundering: Practical training on AML obligations, including customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence for high-risk clients, ongoing monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting. Tailored to specific practice areas (conveyancing, commercial, private client).
Client Care: Meeting SRA requirements for client service, including costs information, complaints procedures, client communication, and service level management.
GDPR and Data Protection: Understanding your firm’s obligations under data protection legislation, including lawful bases for processing, data subject rights, data breaches, and information security.
COLP and COFA Roles: Detailed training for individuals holding or considering these compliance officer positions, covering responsibilities, reporting obligations, and practical compliance management.
SRA Accounts Rules: Understanding the rules governing client money, including the requirements for client accounts, accountant’s reports, and common areas where firms fall short.

All training can be delivered in-house, online, or at external venues, and is tailored to the specific needs and practice areas of your firm.

File Reviews and Audits

Regular file reviews and audits are a cornerstone of effective compliance management. They identify problems before they escalate, provide evidence of good practice for the SRA, and support continuous improvement across the firm.

Types of Review

Regulatory compliance checks: Systematic reviews of open and closed files to verify compliance with SRA requirements, including client identification, costs information, file management, and supervision.
Lexcel and CQS file reviews: Targeted reviews designed to ensure files meet the specific requirements of these accreditation standards.
AML audits: Focused reviews of customer due diligence files against the requirements of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, checking that identification documents are correctly verified, risk assessments are documented, and ongoing monitoring is in place.
Review frequency: Reviews can be conducted monthly, quarterly, or annually depending on your firm’s needs and risk profile. More frequent reviews are advisable for higher-risk practice areas or firms that have recently received regulatory feedback.

Policies and Procedures

A comprehensive set of policies and procedures is essential for any regulated law firm. These documents set out how the firm operates, what standards are expected, and how compliance is maintained across every area of the practice.

The Office Procedures Manual

RCU can prepare a comprehensive Office Procedures Manual tailored to your firm. This is not a generic template; it is written specifically for your practice, reflecting your structure, practice areas, and operational requirements.

Policies Covered

The manual typically includes over 28 individual policies, covering:

Category	Policies
Regulatory	Anti-Bribery and Corruption, Anti-Money Laundering, Conflict of Interest, SRA Compliance
Data and Information	GDPR and Data Protection, Information Security, Document Retention, Subject Access Requests
Client Service	Client Care, Complaints Handling, Costs Information, Equality and Diversity
Operations	Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Health and Safety, Environmental
People	Recruitment, Training and Development, Supervision, Whistleblowing
Financial	Client Money, Accounts Rules Compliance, Financial Controls
Risk	Risk Management, Risk Register, Quality Assurance, File Management

Each policy is drafted to meet current regulatory requirements, with clear procedures that staff can follow in practice. Policies are living documents, and they need to be reviewed and updated regularly as regulations change and the firm evolves.

New Firm Authorisation

Starting a New Law Firm

If you are planning to establish a new law firm, whether as a traditional partnership, a limited company, or an Alternative Business Structure (ABS), the SRA authorisation process can be daunting. The application requires detailed documentation, a credible business plan, and evidence that the firm will be able to meet its regulatory obligations from day one.

RCU’s Track Record

RCU has a 100% success rate in new firm authorisation applications across all firm types:

Solicitor practices: Traditional law firms with solicitor principals.
Barrister-led firms: Firms with barristers as principals or managers.
Licensed conveyancers: Practices focused on conveyancing and probate work.
Alternative Business Structures (ABS): Firms with non-lawyer ownership or management, which require separate ABS authorisation.

What We Provide

The new firm authorisation process requires extensive preparation. RCU supports applicants through every stage:

Business plan development: Preparing a robust business plan that addresses the SRA’s requirements, including market analysis, financial projections, and operational structure.
Financial forecasting: Creating realistic financial forecasts that demonstrate the firm’s viability and its ability to meet its financial obligations, including professional indemnity insurance, practising certificate fees, and operational costs.
Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) guidance: Navigating the PII market, understanding what insurers require, and ensuring your application is strong enough to secure competitive cover.
Compliance framework design: Establishing the policies, procedures, and systems that the SRA expects to see before it will authorise a new firm.
Application support: Preparing and submitting the application, responding to SRA queries, and managing the process through to authorisation.

SRA Investigations

When the SRA Comes Calling

Receiving notification that the SRA is investigating your firm is one of the most stressful experiences a law firm can face. Whether the investigation arises from a client complaint, a self-report, or a routine inspection, the consequences can be severe, from regulatory sanctions and fines to intervention and closure.

How RCU Can Help

RCU advises firms that are subject to SRA investigation or regulatory action:

Initial response: Helping you understand the nature and scope of the investigation, your obligations to cooperate, and your rights during the process.
SRA liaison: Managing communication with the SRA on your behalf, ensuring responses are timely, accurate, and presented in the most constructive way possible.
Pre-audit compliance: If the SRA has flagged specific concerns, we help you address them quickly and thoroughly by implementing new systems, updating policies, and conducting targeted file reviews to demonstrate improvement.
Remediation: Where compliance failures have been identified, developing and implementing a remediation plan that satisfies the SRA and puts the firm on a secure footing going forward.

The key to managing an SRA investigation is to respond promptly, transparently, and constructively. Firms that demonstrate a genuine commitment to compliance and improvement generally achieve better outcomes than those that are defensive or slow to engage.

Getting Started

Whether you need ongoing compliance support, help with accreditation, guidance through a regulatory investigation, or support with a new firm application, the first step is a conversation about your firm’s specific situation and needs.

RCU’s compliance team works with firms of all sizes across England and Wales. Contact us to discuss how we can support your practice.