Lawyers: directory of firms

In England and Wales the Solicitors Regulation Authority regulates solicitors and the firms they work in, and publishes the Solicitors Register so anyone can look up a name or a firm before instructing them. Barristers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board, whose Barristers' Register shows who holds a current practising certificate, who is authorised for public access, and whether there are past disciplinary findings.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements. Scottish solicitors answer to the Law Society of Scotland and Scottish advocates to the Faculty of Advocates; solicitors in Northern Ireland are regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland, which also runs a public solicitor search by town, firm and practice area.

Regulation is not a formality. An SRA-regulated firm must hold professional indemnity insurance, keep your money separate in a client account, and sits behind the SRA Compensation Fund. An unregulated adviser has none of that, and if the money goes missing there is no fund to apply to.

Schedule 2 of the Legal Services Act 2007 lists the reserved legal activities. Doing one of them without authorisation is an offence. Everything outside the list is open to anyone, which is why unregulated advice exists at all.

A first conversation is usually a scoping call: what happened, what you want, whether the firm acts in that area and whether it can act at all. Firms run conflict checks before taking you on, because they cannot act for you if they already act for someone on the other side. They also have to verify your identity under anti-money-laundering rules, so expect to be asked for a passport or driving licence and a proof of address early, not later.

If the firm takes the matter on, you should receive a client care letter and terms of business. It names the person responsible for your file and their supervisor, sets out the scope of work, explains how you will be charged, and tells you how to complain and that the Legal Ombudsman exists. Read it. Most later arguments about a bill trace back to a scope nobody pinned down at the start.

Complaints go to the firm first. It has up to eight weeks to put things right. If you are still unhappy, or it does not answer, the Legal Ombudsman can look at the service you received and can direct the firm to apologise, redo work, cut the bill or pay compensation. Under the scheme rules in force since April 2023 you normally have to come to the Ombudsman within six months of the firm's final response, and within one year of the problem or of realising there was one.

Service and misconduct are different doors. The SRA deals with rule breaches such as dishonesty, misuse of client money or abuse, and says plainly that it cannot make a solicitor apologise to you or pay you compensation. Delay, poor communication and a disputed bill are Ombudsman territory. Serious dishonesty is the regulator's.

Cross-border matters are more common than people expect: a Scottish house bought by someone living in Manchester, an English employer with staff in Belfast, an estate with assets in two jurisdictions. The practical rule is that land is governed by the law of the place it sits, and court proceedings follow the court's own rules.

A firm that does not hold rights in the other jurisdiction will instruct local agents. That is normal and often cheaper than the alternative. What you want to avoid is an adviser who assumes English procedure applies in Scotland, because the terminology, the deadlines and sometimes the underlying right are genuinely different.