SDT: Significant breach of trust
Only 24% of Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) cases concluded within six months last year, according to new figures from the organisation.
This was despite the SDT receiving 10% fewer cases last year, with proceedings referred by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) falling by a third, offset by a rise in applications by individual solicitors and lay people.
While 72% of cases were concluded within six months of issue in 2023 and 32% in 2024, this figure fell to only 24% last year. Seven in 10 took up to nine months, compared to 81% in the previous two years.
The proportion of cases taking up to 12 months was 77% last year, down on 92% in 2024. While in 2023 there were 12 cases which took between one and two years, and only seven in 2024, the figure for last year was 28.
The SDT said the data showed that “the longer running cases which concluded in 2025 were predominantly received in 2024”, during the “surge in referrals” that year.
“While individual case duration is influenced by a range of factors, including complexity and procedural matters, the increased volume of cases received during 2024 placed sustained pressure on operational resources…
“This, combined with periods of reduced staffing capacity, contributed to longer case progression timelines in 2025.”
The SDT said in its Key Performance Measurements Report 2025 that the most common reason for cases to take longer than a year was the ill health of respondents, followed by “the unavailability of witnesses or legal representatives” and adjournment requests by the SRA.
Of the 13 applications for adjournment of a hearing due to a party not being ready, eight came from the SRA and five from the respondent solicitor.
The 33% drop in referrals from the SRA last year to 102 cases reflected a “return toward typical levels following the temporary increase in referrals in 2024 due to the SRA processing a historical backlog”.
There were 22 ‘other applications’ last year, a 29% rise, mainly variation of conditions, appeals and restoration to the roll.
There was also a “substantial increase” in lay applications to SDT, to a total of 40. But 32 were not certified by the SDT, meaning they did not go any further.
The SDT said there were 42 applications from the SRA and respondent solicitor to approve agreed outcomes in 2025, a modest increase, of which all but four were backed by the tribunal.
The SDT sat for 275 days in 2025, an increase of 66 compared to the previous year. The cost of each sitting day fell by around 10% to £10,545, reflecting “a better utilisation of court sittings, allowing fixed operational costs to be distributed across a greater number of hearings”, said Ray Dhanowa, clerk to the tribunal. The overall spend was nearly £3m.
Eleven appeals against SDT decisions were lodged at the High Court last year; 64% of appeals over the past five years have been dismissed, “indicating the robustness of the tribunal’s decisions”.
Mr Dhanowa said a new approach to listing cases – introduced in January 2025 to reduce lost court sitting days and applications for adjournment – has delivered “a clear improvement”, and efforts to produce written judgments have paid off too, with 65% issued within four weeks in 2025, up from 53% in 2024.
“This momentum is encouraging and strengthening it remains a key focus as we move through 2026,” he said.
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