Legal Services Board consultation on upholding professional ethics – Law Society response

02 Jun 2025

2 minutes read

We have responded to the Legal Services Board (LSB) consultation on upholding professional ethics.

The proposals

The consultation identifies several types of poor ethical conduct, including:

strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs)
misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)
problems of independence

As part of its strategy to combat poor ethical conduct, the LSB proposes a statement of policy with five outcomes for regulators:

authorised persons have the right knowledge and skills on professional ethical duties, both at the point of qualification and throughout their career
regulators have a framework of rules, regulations, guidance and other resources which make clear that professional ethical duties are integral to the way authorised persons are expected to behave and act throughout their careers
authorised persons are supported and empowered to uphold their professional ethical duties when they are challenged
regulators identify and use appropriate tools and processes to monitor and supervise the conduct of authorised persons, and where necessary take effective action to address non-compliance with professional ethical duties
regulators regularly evaluate the impact of their measures to pursue outcomes one to four above and make changes, if required, to ensure that they remain fit for purpose

Our view

We welcome the broad outcomes of the LSB’s proposal.

However, the scope and tone of the consultation risks overstating the systemic nature of the issues and undervaluing the current regulatory mechanisms overseen by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

While the LSB’s intention to reinforce public confidence in legal services is understandable, there is a failure to acknowledge the robustness of the current regulatory system.

Most of what is covered in the proposed statement of policy is already covered by the SRA regulations.

The LSB identifies issues such as NDAs and SLAPPs, both of which the SRA has taken steps to address.

Recent high-profile regulatory failures have caused significant consumer detriment and a loss of confidence in legal services.

However, isolated or unusual incidents that draw a large amount of public attention are often assumed to be more representative of the way the profession conducts itself than is actually the case.

Most of our members are aware of what good ethics look like. The regulator could therefore do more to tackle negative perceptions of the profession.