Bogus solicitors
It is a criminal offence for someone to call themselves a solicitor or act as a solicitor if they are not on the roll of solicitors. We call these people "bogus solicitors" and we may prosecute them (see our policy on criminal prosecution). We publish alerts about bogus solicitors.
A genuine solicitor will appear on the roll of solicitors, which we administer, and will be able to give you their roll number on request. It should also appear on their letterheads and notepaper.
You can check if someone is a solicitor by searching Find a solicitor, the Law Society's online directory of solicitors. This directory contains details of almost all of the solicitors that we regulate—the only genuine ones not on there are those who have requested their removal from the database.
If you would like to double-check that a solicitor is genuine, or if you think you are dealing with a bogus solicitor, contact us immediately.
You can also read our guidance for solicitors on bogus law firms and identity theft.
Video: Is my lawyer who they say they are?
Please use www.sra.org.uk/bogus-solicitors to link to this page.