News release

Report outlines SRA action taken to uphold standards

We have published a new report outlining the investigation, supervision and enforcement work we carry out.

Our Upholding Professional Standards report sets out information about how complaints to us are handled, how we conduct our investigations, and how we decide whether and what sort of regulatory action is necessary.

The report includes statistics and commentary on the types of matters we dealt with during the period November 2017 to October 2018. It also includes case studies of action taken and covers developing trends such as sexual harassment and the use of NDAs, money laundering and dubious investment schemes.

Publication of the report is part of our ongoing drive for transparency and openness. It follows the publication earlier this year of our new Enforcement Strategy and associated 'topic guides', which summarise the main mitigating and aggravating factors taken into account when considering possible action across a number of common areas. 

Anna Bradley, Chair of the SRA Board, said: "The standards we set are critical to establishing and maintaining public confidence in the rule of law, the administration of justice and, of course, solicitors’ professional practice. Most solicitors and law firms do a good job, providing high-quality legal services to the public and to businesses within a robust ethical framework.

"But when things go wrong, we have to take firm and fair action to make sure that the standards we and the public expect are upheld. This report shines a light on how we uphold these standards through our enforcement activity. I am looking forward to publishing updated statistics on our enforcement work on a regular basis, so that both the profession and the public can be clear about what we do."

The report can be found here: Upholding professional standards 2017/18

Upholding Professional Standards complements our Annual Review for the same year, which can be found here:

Read the enforcement strategy