New proposals would require firms to give complaint timelines and regular client updates
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has launched a public consultation on additional rules aimed at improving how regulated law firms handle client complaints. The proposed measures are designed to ensure clients receive clearer information and regular updates throughout the complaints process.
The proposals follow a record 41,000 complaints made to law firms last year — the highest number since the SRA began collecting the data in 2012, and an 11% rise on 2024. The Legal Ombudsman, meanwhile, has found poor complaint handling in nearly half the cases it investigates.
The consultation, which opened on 3 July 2026, builds on wider reforms first proposed following a consultation held in 2025. Those earlier proposals focused on making complaints procedures easier to understand and more accessible for consumers. The latest consultation introduces further requirements intended to improve communication between firms and their clients.
Under the draft rules, law firms would be required to provide clients with a clear timeline for resolving a complaint as soon as it is raised. Firms would also need to keep clients informed by providing regular progress updates while the complaint remains under investigation.
Alongside these proposed rules, the SRA is seeking views on a new Complaints Handling Requirements Statement. The document is intended to help regulated firms understand and comply with both existing obligations and any new rules that may be introduced following the consultation.
The regulator said the additional proposals have been developed following discussions with the Legal Services Board (LSB). According to the SRA, the proposals align with the Legal Services Board’s Section 112 statutory requirements for approved regulators.
Aileen Armstrong, Executive Director of Strategy and Policy at the SRA, said that while most consumers receive the professional service they should expect from law firms, this is not always the case.
She said it is important that people have clear and accessible information explaining how to raise concerns if problems arise. Armstrong added that firms should operate open and transparent complaints processes and said the proposed rules would help ensure firms continue acting in the best interests of their clients.
The consultation will remain open until 1 September 2026. Once responses have been reviewed, the SRA intends to submit its final proposals, including those covered by the previous consultation, to the Legal Services Board for approval.
If approved, the changes would introduce additional requirements for regulated law firms when responding to client complaints, with the aim of improving transparency and keeping consumers better informed throughout the process.