Ethics, conduct, and trust form the backbone of the profession

For the vast majority, solicitors will only interact with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) once or twice a year, when confirming a wish to continue to practise and receiving a certificate to prove they can.

Other than that, there are only a few key points in a career when our paths may cross: when seeking to join the profession, such as filling out a form to say you have completed the requisite training and are a fit and proper person to be placed on the roll.

Despite this, the SRA may, at times, feel like our omnipresent masters, always at the back of our minds or in our peripheral continuing professional development (CPD) vision, but it may not be until you have need to directly engage with them – voluntarily or otherwise – that you realise what it is they do, how, and why. 

I was kindly invited to visit the SRA's Birmingham headquarters this week. Having moved out of London to its current Midlands base in 2012, the space has been designed around the needs of the 600-person organisation, each of which has been employed to protect the public from us. 

On first look, you could be in any well-organised law firm, with the addition of helpful overhead signs depicting each area of work and comfortable looking breakout rooms. Spending just a short time there made clear that regulation extends far beyond the renewal of practising terms and striking off solicitors, yet until you give it some thought (but who has time for that?) you don't fully appreciate the extent of its ever-widening remit.

That's not to say that a large part of the SRA isn't devoted to authentication, admission, and administration. With a new-fangled CPD year about to commence and practising certificates up for renewal, it is a busy time. But alongside this, a significant call centre has been established with a team devoted to resolving queries from the profession, the public, and aspiring solicitors. By lunchtime, seemingly over a thousand calls had already been received and dealt with. 

The more complex issues are referred to specialist teams, perhaps the most interesting of which being ethics. In keeping with the current ‘Question of Trust’ campaign, professional ethics, conduct, and trust form the backbone of the profession.  It is the SRA’s job to maintain those high standards and steer, at times, a difficult course between right and wrong. Only by working with the profession it regulates can this properly be judged.

Monitoring diversity, promoting good management, and stepping in when necessary make up only a part of everything else. The SRA recognises that it has some PR to do, with the public and the profession, and we can expect it to be more visible in the coming months. This shouldn’t be seen as a threat, of course, but keep an eye on Solicitors Journal to stay up to date. 

Finally, congratulations to all the winners and those who were shortlisted in the Law Society's Excellence Awards this week. We should celebrate the exceptional work that many firms and individual lawyers are undertaking every day, over and above what might be expected of them. Special mention to Woman Lawyer of the year, Laura Devine, who shared her values (and style tips) with us in our dress-down Friday column. 

Kevin Poulter is SJ's editor at large and a legal director at Bircham Dyson Bell @kevinpoulter