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Publication policy

Publication policy

We may publish our regulatory decisions. Our policy statement on publication of regulatory and disciplinary decisions (PDF 68K) applies to

  • investigations started on or after 1 January 2008; and
  • decisions to prosecute a solicitor before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT)—where, on or after 1 January 2008, the SDT has certified that there is a case to answer.

Our decisions may be challenged by appeals or judicial review. If you wish to rely on them for formal purposes, you can contact us to check that they remain valid. We generally publish a decision only after the expiry of an appeal period; most published decisions will be removed from our website after three years.

Please read references to "solicitor" below as including registered European lawyers and registered foreign lawyers.

Types of published decision

When we decide a regulated person has broken a rule, the consequences for them depend upon the seriousness of the breach and the likelihood of them doing it again.

When deciding on the consequences, we use a range of regulatory outcomes. These outcomes relate to the gravity of the breach. We do not publish all types of decision.

The decisions we publish include

Learn more about our decision making.

You can search for decisions that we have published from January 2008 onward. In order to search, you need the name of the individual or their SRA ID number.

The search facility is not a database of all those we regulate in England and Wales. To check whether an individual is a solicitor, please visit Find a solicitor or contact us.

For a complete list of solicitors about whom we have published decisions, go to Published decisions A–Z. You can also consult a list of our most-recently published decisions.

Viewing decisions

We generally publish a decision only after the expiry of an appeal period; most published decisions will be removed from our website after three years.

Warning

There are some important factors you should understand when viewing our decisions. Therefore, decisions should be read along with the specific information we provide about the types of decision we publish.

Our decisions may be challenged by appeals or by judicial review. If you wish to rely on them for formal purposes, you can contact us to check that they remain valid.

Searching

Enter the name of the individual inside quotation marks in the format "Shakespeare, William" and/or their SRA ID number. If you enter your search terms in any other format, the results may not match the name you are searching for.

Search for decisions now

For a complete list of solicitors about whom we have published decisions, go to Published decisions A–Z. You can also consult a list of our most-recently published decisions.