Do I Need a Solicitor for an SRA Investigation or SDT Hearing?

Do I need a solicitor for an SRA investigation?

TKBy Tamara Krupski-David, Senior Solicitor and former Head of Legal & Enforcement at the Solicitors Regulation Authority · Last reviewed 02 October 2026
✓ Legally reviewed

Key points

• No rule requires a solicitor to be represented at any stage of an SRA or SDT case.
• You have a regulatory duty to cooperate with the SRA, so silence is not a safe option.
• Many cases are closed or resolved at the SRA notice stage, without a Tribunal referral.
• Only the SDT can suspend a solicitor or strike them off the roll.
• Early advice usually costs far less than a contested SDT hearing and the SRA’s costs if you lose.

Can I represent myself before the SRA?

Yes. Solicitors can respond to an SRA investigation and appear before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal without a lawyer. Many do, at least at the start.

Being a lawyer does not make you a good advocate in your own case. Solicitors under investigation tend to over-explain, argue the point they find most unfair, and miss the point the regulator finds most serious. Self-representation is a real option for some. It is a decision to make with a clear view of how the SRA will read what you send.

You would not be alone in facing this. The SRA reported that 1,322 reports were escalated for formal investigation in the six months to April 2026, 41% more than two years earlier, and that it had 1,844 reports under ongoing investigation at the end of April 2026 (SRA, 15 May 2026).

How an SRA investigation works

An SRA case moves through four broad stages.

1. Assessment. Reports from clients, other solicitors, the courts, firms and self-reports are assessed by the SRA’s Assessment and Early Resolution Team. Most reports go no further.
2. Investigation. If the matter is taken forward, an investigation officer gathers evidence. The SRA will normally tell you, and usually your employer, that an investigation has begun.
3. Notice. If the SRA considers there is a case to answer, it sends a notice setting out the allegations, the facts and evidence relied on, and a recommended outcome. You are invited to respond in writing.
4. Decision. An authorised decision maker or adjudicator decides whether to close the case, impose an SRA sanction, or refer you to the SDT.

During an investigation the SRA can require documents and information under section 44B of the Solicitors Act 1974, require explanations, and carry out a forensic investigation at your firm. In urgent cases it can impose conditions on a practising certificate or intervene in a practice.

Your duty to cooperate

Unlike a suspect in a criminal case, you cannot simply decline to engage. Paragraphs 7.3 and 7.4 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors require you to cooperate with the SRA and to respond promptly with full and accurate explanations, information and documents.

Failing to cooperate is a freestanding conduct breach. It can turn a matter that would have closed into one that is sanctioned.

Cooperation is not the same as conceding. You are entitled to take advice before you respond, to ask for a reasonable extension, to query the scope of a request, and to take care over privileged client material. The line between cooperating fully and volunteering damaging, unfocused material is where early advice earns its cost.

The best chance of early resolution: the SRA notice

Most SRA cases are won or lost in writing. The notice is the SRA’s formal statement of its case, and your written response goes to the person who decides the outcome.

A focused, well-evidenced response can:

1. Close the case with no action
2. Reduce the outcome to advice, a warning or a rebuke
3. Keep a fine within the SRA’s own powers
4. Open the way to a regulatory settlement agreement on agreed facts
5. Avoid, or narrow, a referral to the SDT

A rushed or defensive response does lasting damage. It stays on the file, and admissions made carelessly at this stage are hard to withdraw at the Tribunal.

What the SRA can decide itself, and what goes to the SDT

The SRA refers a case to the Tribunal only where there is a realistic prospect of the SDT making an order and a referral is in the public interest. In practice that means cases where the SRA’s own powers are not enough.

The £25,000 limit dates from July 2022. Before then the SRA could fine a solicitor only £2,000, so far more cases now end inside the SRA. That makes the notice stage more important than it used to be. Source for fining powers: The Law Society.

What an SDT hearing involves

An SDT case runs much like a civil trial. The SRA is the prosecutor. It serves a Rule 12 statement setting out the allegations and evidence, and the Tribunal certifies whether there is a case to answer. You then serve a formal Answer, directions follow, and the case is listed for a hearing in public.

A solicitor acting alone has to do several jobs at once:

• Review and challenge the SRA’s Rule 12 statement and exhibits
• Draft an Answer and prepare witness statements
• Cross-examine SRA witnesses, sometimes former clients or colleagues
• Give evidence and be cross-examined
• Make submissions on the facts, on sanction and on costs

The Tribunal applies the civil standard of proof, the balance of probabilities, and has done since November 2019. If allegations are proved, you will usually be ordered to pay the SRA’s costs, which can be substantial.

The stakes are highest where dishonesty is alleged. The High Court held in SRA v Sharma [2010] EWHC 2022 (Admin) that a finding of dishonesty will lead to strike off save in exceptional circumstances. Allegations of lack of integrity, which the Court of Appeal examined in Wingate v SRA [2018] EWCA Civ 366, are also treated very seriously. How an allegation is pleaded, and whether dishonesty can be resisted, is often the whole case.

How long does an SRA investigation take?

There is no fixed timetable. Straightforward matters can conclude within months. Complex investigations, particularly those involving accounts, multiple clients or a forensic inspection, often run for well over a year. A referral to the SDT adds further months before the hearing concludes.

The SRA itself reports unprecedented pressure on its investigation teams, so delay is common. An investigation is disclosable to insurers and prospective employers while it is open, so the early months matter.

When might self-representation be reasonable?

Handling a matter yourself carries the least risk when it is minor, the facts are not in dispute, nothing touches your honesty or integrity, and the realistic outcome is closure or advice. Even then, a single fixed-fee advice session before you reply is worth considering.

Representation matters most when:

• Dishonesty or lack of integrity is alleged, or could be inferred from the facts
• The matter involves client money, the Accounts Rules or anti-money laundering failures
• Sexual misconduct, harassment or discrimination is alleged
• You have received a section 44B production notice or a forensic investigation is under way
• An SRA intervention or practising certificate conditions are threatened
• The notice recommends referral to the SDT
• There are parallel police, civil or employment proceedings

What a specialist SRA defence solicitor does

• Advises on what to say, and what not to say, from the first SRA letter
• Manages production notices, privilege and the scope of what must be disclosed
• Drafts the response to the SRA notice and gathers supporting evidence
• Guides remediation, training, reflection and character evidence
• Negotiates a regulatory settlement agreement, or an agreed outcome at the SDT, where appropriate
• Represents you at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
• Advises on appeals to the High Court and on restoration to the roll

Paying for representation, and where to find support

Check your cover first. Your firm’s professional indemnity policy, a management liability policy or legal expenses cover may meet some of the cost of responding to an investigation or defending disciplinary proceedings. Policies vary, so check the wording and notify insurers promptly. Your firm may also agree to fund your defence.

If you are not covered, you can instruct a solicitor privately. Our fees are set out on our pricing page.

An investigation is isolating. The Law Society publishes a guide to support for solicitors facing disciplinary investigation and enforcement, and LawCare offers free, confidential emotional support to people working in the law.

Frequently asked questions

About the author

Tamara Krupski-David

Senior Solicitor, Regulation Resolution Solicitors

Tamara is a regulatory defence solicitor and the former Head of Legal & Enforcement at the Solicitors Regulation Authority. At the SRA she led the enforcement legal team, conducted its most serious and complex cases, and acted as an authorised decision maker on regulatory outcomes and referrals to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. She previously spent close to eight years at the General Dental Council, latterly as a Senior Lawyer, and was a Legal Adviser at the General Medical Council. With more than 17 years inside the regulators, she now defends solicitors, law firms and healthcare professionals. Read Tamara’s full profile.

Regulation Resolution is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (ID 8010512). This article is general information, not legal advice. Please take advice on your own circumstances.