Glossary
Glossary for solicitors: 16 terms in plain English
Each definition is taken from one of our guides, which gives the rule in full and where it comes from. The terms are in alphabetical order.
AI warning notice
The SRA's notice of 17 August 2026 on using AI in legal work. The firm remains accountable for work done through AI, every citation and assertion must be verified, and client information may only go into an AI system with contractual, technical and organisational safeguards.
Source: SRA warning notice, 17 August 2026; SRA Code of Conduct 2.4 and 3.5
Cancellation notice (client care)
The notice of the 14-day right to cancel that a firm must give an individual client who instructs at a distance or off the premises. Without it the cooling-off period can run for up to a year, and fees for work done inside it are at risk.
Source: Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013
Case fee (Legal Ombudsman)
The fee a firm pays when the Legal Ombudsman accepts a complaint against it. It is £400 today. Proposals consulted on until 2 September 2026 would make it £200, £750 or £1,500 by the stage reached, plus £400 where the firm gave no final response within eight weeks, from 1 April 2027 if approved.
Source: Office for Legal Complaints consultation on Scheme Rules and case fees (June 2026)
COLP and COFA
The compliance officer for legal practice and the compliance officer for finance and administration, which every SRA-regulated firm must have. A rule that would have stopped some managers of larger firms holding the roles was due in January 2027; the SRA paused it on 1 October 2026.
Source: Legal Futures report of the SRA announcement, 1 October 2026; SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules 9.1
Desk-based review
An SRA anti-money-laundering inspection done on paper. The firm has ten calendar days to send its firm-wide risk assessment, proliferation financing assessment, policies, template risk assessments and matter lists. The SRA then reads 10 to 12 files.
Source: DG Legal, SRA desk-based reviews and AML inspections (Legal Futures, 9 September 2026)
Eight-week rule
The time a law firm has to resolve a complaint before the client can take it to the Legal Ombudsman: eight weeks from the day the complaint is received. A complaint received on 1 October 2026 must be resolved by 26 November 2026.
Source: Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules in force from 1 April 2023
Estate accounts
The record of an estate's administration, set out as three statements: capital, income and distribution. They are right only if total receipts equal total payments. No form is prescribed, but the court can require an inventory and an account.
Source: Administration of Estates Act 1925, section 25
Extended policy period
The 30 days of cover a firm's insurer must give after a professional indemnity policy expires with no replacement. A 60-day cessation period follows, in which the firm can take no new instructions. A policy that expired on 30 September 2026 runs out of both on 29 December.
Source: SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules; SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions
Final response
The firm's written answer that closes its complaints procedure. It starts the client's six months to go to the Legal Ombudsman, but only if it states the six-month limit and gives the Ombudsman's full contact details. If it does not, that clock does not start.
Source: Legal Ombudsman Scheme Rules in force from 1 April 2023; Legal Ombudsman, Signposting consumers to the Legal Ombudsman
Firm-wide risk assessment
The written assessment of the money laundering risks a law firm faces. It is the first document the SRA asks for in a desk-based review, along with the proliferation financing assessment and the firm's policies, controls and procedures.
Source: Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 18
Minimum terms and conditions
The cover every law firm's professional indemnity policy must give. The minimum is £3 million a claim for an LLP or limited company and £2 million for other firms.
Source: SRA Minimum Terms and Conditions of Professional Indemnity Insurance
Practising certificate fee
The yearly fee each solicitor's certificate costs. For 2026/27 it is £552: a £382 fee plus a £170 compensation fund contribution, against £396 the year before. The firm also pays a periodic fee set by its turnover band. Renewal runs from 1 to 31 October 2026.
Source: SRA, Fee policy 2026/27 (1 September 2026, stated as subject to approval)
Probate application fee
The court fee for a grant of probate: £526 where the estate is over £5,000 and nothing below. Extra copies of the grant are £2 each when ordered with the application and £16 each later.
Source: GOV.UK, Applying for probate: fees, read 1 October 2026
Residual client balance
Client money left on a matter after it has finished that the firm cannot return. A balance of £500 or less can be paid to a charity without asking the SRA, provided the firm took reasonable steps to return it, recorded them and entered the payment in a central register. Over £500 needs the SRA's written authority.
Source: SRA Accounts Rules, rule 5.1(c)
Source of funds
Where the money for a transaction comes from. The Money Laundering Regulations require it to be scrutinised "where necessary", and the SRA expects a written reason when no check is done. In 2024 to 2025 the SRA found no check on 648 of 5,026 files that needed one.
Source: Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 28(11)(a); SRA thematic review of source of funds and wealth compliance (5 November 2025)
Transparency Rules
The SRA rules that make firms publish prices for named services: six for individuals and three for businesses. For each, the page must carry seven items, including the total cost or range, disbursements, VAT, key stages and who does the work and their experience.
Source: SRA Transparency Rules
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