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Black and minority ethnic solicitors continue to figure in a disproportionate number of regulatory actions, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has admitted. It is occuring across key areas such as interventions, referrals to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the imposition of practising certificate conditions.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s application to become a licensing body for alternative business structures has been endorsed by the Legal Services Board’s consumer watchdog, but with reservations. The Legal Services Consumer Panel expressed disappointment that some recommendations it made during consultations were not adopted.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is investigating whether to provide consumers with guideline price ranges for legal services, it has confirmed. The move follows a call to provide better information to clients about solicitors’ services.

Ethics training could become a compulsory element of solicitors’ continuing professional development as part of a fundamental review to be conducted by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Legal Futures has learned. The review – described by the SRA as “overdue” – will look to ensure that CPD “works in the new world of alternative business structures and outcome-focused regulation”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority will start pilots for desk-based supervision and risk-based visits to law firms next month as the run-up to the launch of outcomes-focused regulation steps up. A new policy statement explains that “high intensity” supervision does not mean a firm is necessarily in trouble.