A solicitor's undertaking binds without consideration and is enforced by both the court and the regulator — a promise with sharper teeth than an ordinary contract.
A few words, written or spoken, can commit a solicitor to an obligation the court will enforce summarily, which is why the rules around undertakings repay careful study. This chapter starts with what counts as an undertaking and the requirements for one to be valid, including whether an oral statement binds and why no consideration is needed. It then turns to who is bound — the firm when a non-solicitor employee gives the promise, and the personal liability that follows the individual even after leaving the firm or its dissolution — before working through conditional undertakings, the time for performance where none is stated, withdrawal after reliance, and discharge or variation by agreement. It closes with the two distinct enforcement routes for breach, the remedies and regulatory sanctions available, and how ambiguous wording is interpreted.
