The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has issued another round of fixed penalty notices to law firms failing to comply with mandatory transparency rules.
In January, 8 additional companies were fined between £750 and £1,500 for not meeting requirements like publishing service details online or submitting diversity data. This brings the total number of firms penalised through streamlined sanctions to 12 since reforms last year.
The SRA insists the fines are not meant to target smaller practices that lack resources. Firms receive multiple notifications before penalties apply, providing opportunities to resolve issues first. Many do become compliant after initial warnings, says SRA chief Paul Philip.
Nonetheless, the regulator believes upholding sector standards remains vital for public trust. Transparency on services assists client decision-making in the legal services market. Collecting workforce diversity statistics enables sector-wide progress monitoring and firm benchmarking.
While recognising the challenges smaller companies face, the SRA maintains transparency rules must apply uniformly. Mandatory regulations aim to shape norms around transparency and inclusion across the wider profession.
By publicising fines, the SRA is signalling that it takes breaches seriously regardless of motive. As courts affirm regulators’ sanctioning powers, compliance burdens on stretched firms may increase despite conciliatory oversight approaches.
But some argue bare compliance should not be the endpoint for law firms. An ethical business model means internalising the principles behind external obligations—and gathering diversity data to inform HR policies serves a company’s own interests.