Rapson: Firms should have actual conversations about ethics
Two-thirds of investigations by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) involve “some reference” to professional ethics, its chief executive said yesterday.
Sarah Rapson, who described the proportion as “quite high”, also said she was concerned that the relationship between the SRA and profession meant some law firms “might not feel able to report” financial instability.
Speaking at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ Solicitors Conference 2026, Ms Rapson said the “vast majority” of solicitors upheld the trust put in them by the public.
However, when responding to a consultation by the SRA on ethics, some lawyers said they believed that the “client is king”.
Ms Rapson went on: “It’s a commercial business, isn’t it, a law firm? If you’ve got a single big client and you need to do something for them, there can be a question sometimes, if there is a trade-off perhaps between the commercial interest and an ethical position. It gets really hard at times for professionals.”
Ms Rapson, a former executive director of supervision at the Financial Reporting Council, said it was “clearer to know what the public interest is” in audit. The legal profession presented “much more of a complex picture”.
She said the SRA wanted to make sure that lawyers “had ethical conversations” at least once a year, so a requirement had been proposed in its CPD consultation that solicitors set aside three hours a year for “actual conversations” about ethics, rather than an online exam.
On self-reporting to the SRA concerns about financial stability, Ms Rapson said: “I do worry about firms that don’t feel able to report. I would far rather know if there is something going on that a firm is struggling with than find out after the harm has occurred”.
The SRA might be able to provide help, support or guidance, she said.
But given “the relationship we have got” with the regulated community, “perhaps people don’t feel able to come to us”, which was “something I am keen that we do more on”.
Ms Rapson acknowledged that “the contract” between regulator and regulated might not be “in the right place”.
Earlier Ms Rapson spoke about the pause announced last week on the new rules to separate compliance officer roles from the management of law firms. “We had some very strong feedback, particularly from smaller firms, about the unintended consequences of the rules.”
This was despite the SRA’s decision to increase the amount of client money small firms could hold while remaining exempt from the changes.
Ms Rapson said a regulator “does not live in an ivory tower” and would “take stock” but would “still need to do something” on the issue.
On client money, she said the “broad question” about whether solicitors should hold it was “still there for debate” and she wanted to “have that conversation” over the next year or so.
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