Compliance & Consultancy services for Sole Practitioners
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Service Overview
Compliance Support for Sole Practitioners
As a sole practitioner, not only are you focused on delivering excellent legal services to your clients, but you are also responsible for running your business, compliance and risk management, dealing with client enquiries or complaints, and much more. With the ever-growing burden of regulatory scrutiny, risk management obligations, and business administration, these tasks can become overwhelming.
At the Regulation and Compliance Office (RACO), we understand the unique challenges you face running a sole practice. Whether you are working from home, operating part-time, or managing a small office, maintaining regulatory obligations and full compliance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC), or Law Society of Scotland is not optional; it is essential. Failure to meet regulatory requirements can result in investigations, financial penalties, strike-off, or criminal prosecution.
For more information on how RACO can support your sole practice, or to discuss consultancy services, you can email us info@regulationandcomplianceoffice.co.uk or make an online enquiry.
Supporting Sole Practitioners Across England, Scotland and Wales
RACO provides cost-effective, robust, proportionate compliance and consultancy solutions designed specifically to support sole practitioners and small law firms. Our services let you outsource your regulatory burden entirely or complement your existing processes with expert guidance and support, allowing you to remain focused on serving your clients.
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Scottish Law Firm?
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Our Services for Sole Practitioners
We work with legal practices and law firms of all sizes and have designed a range of compliance and consultancy services that can be tailored to the exact needs of sole practitioners. Whether you are looking to completely outsource your compliance support or need targeted assistance with a specific task, we can help. Find out more about our range of compliance support and consultancy services below:
Compliance and Consultancy Services
Risk management and compliance are areas you cannot afford to get wrong. We provide packaged and bespoke compliance solutions covering:
SRA Compliance Essentials: Provides sole practitioners with the necessary Policies, Controls, and Procedures (PCPs) alongside training, supervision structure, an annual independent assessment and reporting. This solution ensures legal practices and their staff are compliant and remain so. It also clarifies what to do in the event of a breach.
Regulation & Compliance Management: Provides an outsource solution for sole practitioners where RACO not only manages and maintains the risk registers and provides guidance to all staff, including partners, we also produce monthly risk and compliance reports.
Due Diligence and Risk Assessment Service: Our Due Diligence and Risk Assessment Service is designed to provide an outsource option for the completion of Client Due Diligence and completion of the Client and Matter Risk Assessment, including, where necessary, to perform source of funds and source of wealth and enhanced due diligence.
Detailed Risk Management and Compliance Review: Comprehensive assessment of your current compliance position with actionable recommendations
MLR 2017 Regulation 21 Independent Audit: Independent AML audits to ensure you meet Money Laundering Regulations requirements.
RACO works on both a bespoke and packaged basis. Not every legal practice is the same, but there are some consistencies that arise from the regulator’s requirements. We pride ourselves on working closely with sole practitioners to deliver solutions that truly work for them and add value. Our compliance and consultancy services also include:
- File Audits
- Training
- Transparency Code Drafting
- Client Care Packs
- Complaint Management Service
- Data Protection and GDPR Solutions
- Employee Handbook
- SRA Applications New Firms
- SRA Applications Existing Firms
- CLC Applications and Renewals
- Accreditations Management, including CQS and SQM
- And more…
Learn more about our full range of Compliance Solutions and Consultancy Services:
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Regulatory Defence & Disciplinary Support
When regulatory issues arise, we understand how worrying this can be. RACO provides a range of defence and support services, including:
- Self-Reporting: Guidance and support for reporting breaches to the SRA/CLC
- SRA/CLC Enquiries & Investigations: Expert representation and support through regulatory investigations
- Regulatory Settlement Agreements: Negotiation and agreement support with regulators
- Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) Support: Full defence services for SDT proceedings
- SDT Agreed Outcomes: Negotiating agreed outcomes to avoid full tribunal hearings
Latest Insights
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FCA Warning to Senior Managers: Fitness and Propriety Can Follow You Across Sectors
Understanding Your Obligations – It Is Not Just About Regulatory Breaches Two recent actions by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), taken weeks apart, make the same point from very different angles. In the first case, a former law firm owner has been banned from financial services after misappropriating more than…
RACO Compliance Roundup: October 2026
Welcome to the Latest Roundup September proved to be one of the busiest months for regulatory news in recent memory. The SRA has paused the COLP and COFA separation, published a formal warning notice on AI misuse, and updated its Sectoral Risk Assessment. The Budget is approaching with two proposals…
SRA Pauses COLP and COFA Separation: What This Means for Firms
SRA Confirms Pause on COLP and COFA Separation Rules On 30 September, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) confirmed it is pausing implementation of the COLP and COFA separation rules, which were due to take effect from January 2027. The plans were attracting growing criticism for the regulator’s proposal to prevent…
Client Account Interest and the Upcoming Budget: What Firms Should Be Aware Of
Two Proposals Firms Need to Watch On 28 October 2026, Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey will deliver the Autumn budget, and with that date fast approaching, two proposals affecting law firms’ finances are in circulation, and both could have a material impact on how firms manage their income. The…
Complaints as a Risk Signal: What Your Complaints Data Tells the SRA, and Your Firm
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The ICO Becomes the Information Commission on 30 September
What Law Firms Need to Know About ICO Governance Changes On 30 September 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office will formally become the Information Commission. The change is made under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 and marks a shift from the current model, in which statutory powers rest…
High Court Rules SRA Cannot Compel Privileged Material: What Firms Need to Know
What Was the Recent Ruling Against the SRA? On 21 September 2026, the High Court handed down judgment in Carter-Ruck Solicitors & another v Solicitors Regulation Authority,. Mr Justice Butcher ruled that the SRA cannot use section 44B of the Solicitors Act 1974 to compel solicitors to produce documents or…
RACO Compliance Update – September 2026
Latest from RACO: What We’ve Published This Month It has been a busy few weeks for regulatory developments, and we have been covering them as they land on our news and insights page. Here is a summary of the most recent articles, each with a link to read the articles…
COLP and COFA Split: Growing Pushback from Smaller Firms, But Preparation Should Continue
What Has Happened Since Our Last Article When we published our practical guidance on the COLP and COFA changes in early September, the Legal Services Board (LSB) had just approved the new COLP and COFA changes and the SRA was preparing for phased implementation from January 2027. More recently, opposition…
Contact Our Team
To ask any questions about the Regulation and Compliance Office and how we can support your firm, please call us on 0203 985 8550, complete the online enquiry form below, or email us info@regulationandcomplianceoffice.co.uk