What is an SRA Investigation and How Could It Affect Your Job in a Firm?

While solicitors protect individuals and businesses from losing out due to crime and improper practices, the SRA works hard to ensure that the work that solicitors do is above board. In this article, we’re looking at SRA investigations and how such an investigation could affect your job in a law firm.

For most law firms and their personnel, SRA investigations are something they hope they will never experience. However, for many, it’s an unpleasant reality.

In this article, we’re looking at SRA investigations and how these could affect your law firm job.

What is an SRA investigation?

The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) is responsible for ensuring that all UK solicitors conduct their practices within legal and moral guidelines. If a complaint is made about a solicitor or law firm or a discrepancy is uncovered, it is up to the SRA to find out what happened.

This involves launching an investigation into the firm or individual in order to find out if any rules were broken. The SRA launches around 3,600 investigations every year and, in some cases, an investigation can go on for over two years.

What Conduct is Investigated by the SRA?

There are a number of types of conduct that are investigated by the SRA, and these include:

• Recklessness or serious incompetence; whether deliberate or accidental
• Dishonesty
• Failing to comply with regulatory requirements
• Conduct outside of work which may impact on the company
• Criminal convictions
• Repeated misconduct

How could an SRA investigation affect your job in a law firm?

If you are the one being investigated, the process will usually run as follows:

• Evidence gathering: to begin with, the SRA will start to gather documentary evidence and may contact witnesses in order to do so. They will usually liaise closely with you and will ask you for information and documentation.
• Evidentiary meeting: the next step will usually be a visit to your office and a meeting with yourself and a senior member of staff, where you will be asked to provide an explanation for the evidence gathered.
• Recommendation: the SRA will produce a report on the evidence and your input, and will recommend a course of action. This may be no action, suspension, dismissal, or even legal action.

What should I do if I’m being investigated by the SRA?

Discovering that you are the subject of an SRA investigation can be stressful and upsetting. It’s important that you act as quickly as possible in order to defend yourself and your job.

The first thing that you should do is to secure legal representation – this should be a third party and not somebody employed in the same firm as yourself. Once you have a solicitor in place, you need to gather as much evidence such as documentation, emails, and receipts as you can and make these available to your solicitor.

Based on the information that you have provided, your solicitor will then respond to the letter from the SRA on your behalf in a bid to prove that there is no case to answer.

While an investigation by the SRA can sometimes seem invasive and intrusive, it’s extremely important that you and your firm cooperate with the investigation to the best of your ability. An investigation by the SRA can compromise not just your current position, but applications for future jobs as well, so it is imperative that you take this extremely seriously.

Can I appeal an SRA decision?

In the unfortunate event that the SRA’s decision is a negative one, you do have the right to appeal the decision. Once you receive the letter informing you of the decision, you may instruct your solicitor to file an appeal and they will have 28 days in which to do so in writing.

Once an appeal has been filed, the SRA will review your case again and will provide a final decision in writing.

Following the completion of the investigation, if you still feel that the final decision is wrong or unfair, your last course of action may be to instruct your solicitor to file a complaint against the SRA with the Legal Ombudsman. While this may be an option, be warned that this can be a lengthy process with no guarantee of success. Your solicitor should be able to advise you on whether or not this is the right way to go.

Professional conduct at all times

Being accused of wrongdoing or incompetence is never pleasant, and it can be difficult to not take it personally; particularly when it’s your job and your reputation at stake. It’s important to remember that the SRA provides a function which is created to ensure that the profession that you have chosen is held to the high standards that clients expect.

It is therefore essential that you conduct yourself professionally during the investigation and co-operate to the best of your ability with the SRA. Having said that, it’s also important to defend yourself if you believe that the allegation is unfounded. Securing a good third party solicitor with experience of SRA investigations is of paramount importance.

If you do lose your job following an investigation by the SRA, this may impact on subsequent job hunting. So, you should be prepared to be asked about this when applying for new roles.

Please be advised that this article is for general informational purposes only, and should not be used as a substitute for advice from a trained legal professional. Be sure to consult a legal professional if you’re seeking advice about an SRA investigation. We are not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information on this site.