How to check a solicitor is regulated
Search the SRA Solicitors Register, then look for the SRA digital badge on the firm’s website. The register tells you whether someone is a solicitor and where they work. The badge shows that the firm itself is regulated. Because each check answers a different question, use both.
The short answer
If you want to know how to check a solicitor is registered, start with the SRA Solicitors Register. The SRA describes it as the definitive impartial source of information about the law firms and people it regulates. You can search it to see whether somebody is a solicitor and where they work.
Next, visit the firm’s own website and look for the clickable SRA logo. Click it, and an SRA page confirms the firm by name. However, a badge alone does not tell the whole story, so read the register entry too. If you are unsure what the person you are checking actually does, our guide to what a solicitor does explains the role.
Search the SRA Solicitors Register
The SRA Solicitors Register lets you look up the records of the solicitors and law firms the SRA regulates. You can use it to check whether somebody is a solicitor and where they work. The SRA’s “Choosing a solicitor” page tells consumers to do exactly this, and to check whether a firm is regulated by the SRA.
The SRA also offers a “Check a solicitor’s record” search. You type in a solicitor’s name or SRA ID, and the search shows regulatory decisions. Generally, decisions stay on the SRA website for three years. The SRA says it cannot give a complete picture of a regulatory record there, so treat the result as one piece of information rather than a final verdict.
Before you search, gather the details you have. For example, note the solicitor’s full name, the firm’s name and any SRA ID the firm gives you. A name on its own can match several people, so extra detail helps you spot the right entry. Keep a note of what you find and the date you searched.
Look for the SRA digital badge
The SRA clickable logo, which its rules call the digital badge, shows visitors that a firm is regulated. It also links to information on the protections this provides. Since 25 November 2019, firms have had to use the logo, so a regulated firm’s website should show one.
Clicking the logo takes you to an SRA page that confirms, by name, that the firm is regulated. The logo also carries the current date. The SRA says this helps prevent fraudulent copying of a static image. Therefore, if a badge shows no date or does not respond when you click it, look more closely before you go on.
The badge does not replace other information. The SRA says a firm must still state on its website that the SRA regulates it, and give its SRA number. As a result, you can take that number and search for it on the register. If the number and the firm’s name match the register, you have a consistent picture.
Use the Law Society Find a Solicitor service
The Law Society runs a Find a Solicitor service. It searches its database of legal professionals by organisation or person, name or SRA ID, location, area of practice and legal issue. For example, you can search by your area and the type of matter you have.
Because the service accepts an SRA ID, you can use it alongside the register. Treat the Law Society service as a way to explore, and use the SRA register to confirm that someone is a solicitor and where they work. Each service has its own job, so compare what both say about the same firm.
What to do if you cannot find the firm
Sometimes a search returns nothing. A misspelt name, a trading name or a different spelling of a surname can all change the result. Therefore, try again before you draw any conclusion. Search by SRA ID if you have one, and try the firm’s name in a different form.
Next, go back to the firm’s website and look for the SRA statement and number. Check the number digit by digit, because a single wrong digit gives a different result. You can also ask the firm which SRA number it works under, and where it carries out its work. Write down the answer and check it against the register.
This site lists no firms, so the SRA register is the place to check a firm. Our guide to practice areas explains the main types of legal work in plain terms. Therefore, you can use it to describe your matter clearly when you ask a firm questions.
Who regulates solicitors
Legal Choices says the SRA keeps watch over all solicitors in England and Wales and the firms they work for. It takes action when solicitors fall below the required standards or act dishonestly. That role explains why the register matters, since it holds the SRA’s own record of the people and firms it oversees.
If a solicitor’s service worries you, our guide to complaining about a solicitor explains where to start. When you are ready to run the checks yourself, follow the full steps on our check a solicitor page.