# SRA approval to buy a law firm: Buying a Law Firm Rules

> The Buying a Law Firm Rules carries 2 published figures read from 1 source's own page, from 28 to 90 day, read 28 October 2026.

Who Buys Law Firms · https://whobuyslawfirms.co.uk/datasets/buying-a-law-firm-rules/ · computed 2026-10-29

**Range of the published figures:** 28 to 90 day (range 28 to 90 day; 2 published figures; 3 of 9 sources read publish one).

3 of the 9 named sources read in full publish a figure; 6 publish none, read 28 October 2026.

## By gate

| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| gate material-interest-ownership | 10 % | 10 to 10 % | 1 |
| gate sra-decision-on-new-owner | 90 day | 90 to 90 day | 1 |
| gate representations-after-warning-notice | 28 day | 28 to 28 day | 1 |
| gate offence-acquiring-without-approval | 2 year | 2 to 2 year | 1 |
| gate approval-lapses-if-not-acquired | 1 year | 1 to 1 year | 1 |

## Every figure, with its source

One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read.

| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| [SRA guidance: authorisation and approval of role holders](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/authorisation-approval-role-holders/) | 90 day | sra-decision-on-new-owner | 2026-10-28 |
| [SRA guidance: authorisation and approval of role holders](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/authorisation-approval-role-holders/) | 28 day | representations-after-warning-notice | 2026-10-28 |
| [SRA guidance: does your interest in a licensed body require approval](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/interest-licensed-body-require-approval/) | 10 % | material-interest-ownership | 2026-10-28 |
| [Legal Services Act 2007, Schedule 13 (ownership of licensed bodies)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/29/schedule/13) | 2 year | offence-acquiring-without-approval | 2026-10-28 |
| [Legal Services Act 2007, Schedule 13 (ownership of licensed bodies)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/29/schedule/13) | 1 year | approval-lapses-if-not-acquired | 2026-10-28 |

## The sentence each figure was read from (5)

- [SRA guidance: authorisation and approval of role holders](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/authorisation-approval-role-holders/), read 2026-10-28: "In these cases, within 90 days of receiving notice of a proposed new owner, we must (paragraph 25 of Schedule 13 LSA):"
- [SRA guidance: authorisation and approval of role holders](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/authorisation-approval-role-holders/), read 2026-10-28: "If we issue a warning notice, you and the candidate will have 28 days from the date of the notice to provide representations."
- [SRA guidance: does your interest in a licensed body require approval](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/interest-licensed-body-require-approval/), read 2026-10-28: "Those who hold 10% or more shares in the licensed body (the term ‘shares’ has a wide meaning and that is discussed below) or any parent undertaking of the body."
- [Legal Services Act 2007, Schedule 13 (ownership of licensed bodies)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/29/schedule/13), read 2026-10-28: "on conviction on indictment, to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years or a fine (or both)."
- [Legal Services Act 2007, Schedule 13 (ownership of licensed bodies)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/29/schedule/13), read 2026-10-28: "if no such period is specified, before the end of the period of one year beginning with the date of that notice."

## Read in full, publishes no figure

- [SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/authorisation-firms-rules/), read 2026-10-28: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [LSA 2007 Sch 13 para 3: material interest](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/29/schedule/13/part/1/crossheading/material-interest), read 2026-10-28: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [FSMA (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, art. 70: sale of a body corporate](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/544/article/70), read 2026-10-28: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [SRA warning notice: mergers, acquisitions and sales of law firms](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/mergers-acquisitions-sales-law-firms/), read 2026-10-28: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules (successor practice in Annex 1)](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/indemnity-insurance-rules/), read 2026-10-24: every candidate on the page was refused
- [HCR Law: investing in a law firm, approval timing](https://www.hcrlaw.com/news-and-insights/investing-in-a-law-firm-dont-risk-delaying-your-completion-deadlines/), read 2026-10-28: every candidate on the page was refused

## Methodology

Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 3 of the 9 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 6 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in day (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 2 figures, never sentences; 29 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per gate a buyer passes: SRA approval of owners and managers before acquisition, the 10% material-interest threshold for a licensed body (ABS) under LSA 2007 Schedule 13, the FCA exclusion for selling 50%+ of a body corporate (RAO art. 70), the successor practice consequence under the MTC, and the SRA's warning notice duties; each with the clause and the date read

## Sources

- [SRA guidance: does your interest in a licensed body require approval](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/interest-licensed-body-require-approval/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [SRA guidance: authorisation and approval of role holders](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/authorisation-approval-role-holders/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/authorisation-firms-rules/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Legal Services Act 2007, Schedule 13 (ownership of licensed bodies)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/29/schedule/13) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [LSA 2007 Sch 13 para 3: material interest](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/29/schedule/13/part/1/crossheading/material-interest) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [FSMA (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, art. 70: sale of a body corporate](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2001/544/article/70) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [SRA warning notice: mergers, acquisitions and sales of law firms](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/mergers-acquisitions-sales-law-firms/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules (successor practice in Annex 1)](https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/indemnity-insurance-rules/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [HCR Law: investing in a law firm, approval timing](https://www.hcrlaw.com/news-and-insights/investing-in-a-law-firm-dont-risk-delaying-your-completion-deadlines/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)

## Cite or embed

- The Buying a Law Firm Rules carries 2 published figures read from 1 source's own page, from 28 to 90 day, read 28 October 2026.
- 3 of the 9 named sources read in full publish a figure; 6 publish none, read 28 October 2026.
- Buying a Law Firm Rules, gate material-interest-ownership: median 10 percent across 1 source, read 28 October 2026.
- Buying a Law Firm Rules, gate sra-decision-on-new-owner: median 90 day across 1 source, read 28 October 2026.
- Buying a Law Firm Rules, gate representations-after-warning-notice: median 28 day across 1 source, read 28 October 2026.
- Buying a Law Firm Rules, gate offence-acquiring-without-approval: median 2 year across 1 source, read 28 October 2026.
- Buying a Law Firm Rules, gate approval-lapses-if-not-acquired: median 1 year across 1 source, read 28 October 2026.

Cite as: "whobuyslawfirms.co.uk Buying a Law Firm Rules", updated 2026-10-29, https://whobuyslawfirms.co.uk/datasets/buying-a-law-firm-rules/.

CSV: https://whobuyslawfirms.co.uk/datasets/buying-a-law-firm-rules.csv
JSON: https://whobuyslawfirms.co.uk/datasets/buying-a-law-firm-rules.json
Embed (plain HTML, static link back): see https://whobuyslawfirms.co.uk/datasets/buying-a-law-firm-rules/#median