News

Law firms asked to provide information on complaints handling

30 January 2025

We have written to a randomly selected cross section of 750 firms, requiring Compliance Officers (COLPs) to provide information on how their firm identifies and handles first tier complaints.

It is a regulatory requirement that all SRA-regulated law firms have a complaints procedure in place and publish details on their website if they have one.

The SRA is asking all the firms selected for this exercise to provide the information by completing an online questionnaire.

The deadline for returning the requested information is 28 February.

Please note responding to this request for information is a regulatory requirement, and we may take disciplinary action should any firm fail to respond.

Why are we requesting this information?

Consumers of legal services, and the public more broadly, should have confidence that they can access good quality legal services, with effective avenues to raise concerns and have them resolved.

We are undertaking a programme of work in response to the LSB's policy statement on first tier complaint which requires us and other legal regulators, to pursue specified outcomes. This continues our aim to ensure that all firms have procedures in place for the effective, efficient and fair investigation and resolution of complaints in the public interest and in the interests of consumers.

The information you provide in response to this survey will play an important role in informing our programme of work.

What information am I being asked to provide?

To help you prepare your answers, you can download an example of the survey you are being asked to complete in two file formats: Survey copy (PDF 20 pages, 273KB), Survey copy (DOC 17 pages, 69KB). Please note, we can only accept responses submitted using our online form. The link to the online form has been emailed to selected COLPs. The form is available here: Go to the survey

Is responding compulsory?

Responding to this request for information is a regulatory request. Under rule 3.3 of the Code of Conduct for Firms, you have a regulatory obligation to ensure that your firm, if asked, submits the information we have requested.

If we do not receive a response by the deadline we may issue your firm with a fixed financial penalty.

How do I know if my firm has been selected to respond?

We emailed the COLPs of all firms who are required to take the survey on 30 January 2025. We will also be sending subsequent reminder emails to the same person before the response deadline.

You can also access a link to the survey here: Go to the survey

If you need a reasonable adjustment to support you in responding, or have any questions about this request, please contact us.

Please us www.sra.org.uk/ftcomplaints to link to this page.