The rules governing solicitors who practise as freelancers, in-house or in non-commercial bodies, where personal SRA regulation continues even though the organisation itself is unauthorised.
Stepping outside an authorised firm does not lift the regulatory burden — it shifts it onto the individual solicitor, and the limits of what they may lawfully do become tighter. This chapter opens with the three categories of solicitors practising outside SRA-authorised firms, the six reserved legal activities under the Legal Services Act 2007, and the criminal consequence of carrying one out without authorisation or an exemption. It then examines freelance solicitors in detail: the practising experience required, the bar on holding client money, the indemnity insurance standard and the written disclosures owed to clients. Finally it covers in-house solicitors — who they may serve and how reserved activities can lawfully be performed for an unauthorised employer — and solicitors in non-commercial bodies such as law centres, including what clients must be told about the organisation's regulatory status.
