The decade since the enactment of the Legal Services Act 2007
(the "LSA") has seen significant regulatory reform in the
legal sector, including the Solicitors Regulation Authority
("SRA")'s move from a prescriptive, rules-based Code
of Conduct to a more flexible, outcomes-focused Code in 2011.
Reform continues apace, with a number of consultations having taken
place in the last year or so, on issues ranging from education,
innovation and the Accounts Rules to the shape and content of the
SRA Handbook.
The "Question of Trust" campaign
One aspect of this has been the SRA's "Question of
Trust" campaign, which ran from September 2015 to January
2016. The stated aims of the campaign included to seek views on the
factors which the SRA should take into account when considering the
appropriate response to breaches of regulatory standards, and
ultimately to improve transparency and predictability in the
outcomes of the SRA's enforcement processes.
