Buying one
Buy a law firm in the UK: the approvals, in order
Updated
Whoever buys a law firm in England and Wales meets the regulator before completion. These are the steps the SRA and the Legal Services Act 2007 set, read on 28 October 2026.
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Before you agree a price
If the firm is a licensed body, anyone who will hold 10% or more of its shares, or of a parent, needs the SRA's approval first. A non-lawyer buyer always does.
Source: SRA: does your interest in a licensed body require approval
The SRA's warning notice on mergers, acquisitions and sales of law firms sets out what the selling and the buying solicitors must not do in the process, including on client confidentiality and conflicts.
Source: SRA warning notice: mergers, acquisitions and sales of law firms
Between exchange and completion
The SRA has 90 days from notice of a proposed new owner to decide. If it issues a warning notice, you have 28 days to answer. Build that into the completion date.
Source: SRA: authorisation and approval of role holders
Acquiring the holding without approval is an offence, up to 2 years in prison or a fine on indictment, and an approval with no period set lapses after one year if the holding is not acquired.
Source: Legal Services Act 2007, Schedule 13
Insurance after the deal
Whether the buyer becomes the seller's successor practice decides who covers claims about the old firm's work. The SRA's Indemnity Insurance Rules set the test.
Source: SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules
This page is information only. It is not legal or regulatory advice.