The obligations that keep solicitors and firms answerable to the SRA — from candour and self-reporting to compliance officers, insurance and what clients must be told.
A solicitor's relationship with the regulator carries duties that apply long before any misconduct is found. This chapter starts with the duty to cooperate with the SRA and not to mislead it, whether by statement or omission, then moves to the events a solicitor must personally notify — criminal matters, financial difficulties and more — and the separate duty to report serious breaches by anyone the SRA regulates. It also covers the protections for those who report, including why settlement clauses gagging disclosure to the SRA do not hold. Finally, it turns to the firm itself: the roles of the COLP and COFA, when managers carry personal responsibility, and the requirements on indemnity insurance, price transparency and the information clients must receive at the start of a retainer.
