Referral agreements

Referral agreements

The SRA’s core regulatory requirements in relation to referral and fee sharing arrangements are found in the two Codes of Conduct (the Code for Solicitors and Code for Firms), which should be read in the context of the SRA Principles.

SRA Standards and Regulations

There is no definition of ‘referral’. Instead the SRA defines the person or entity making the referral, ie the ‘introducer’.

Introducer

An introducer is any person, business or organisation that:

•
introduces or refers clients to your business
•
recommends your business to clients, or
•
otherwise puts you and clients in touch with each other

This is an extremely wide definition, no doubt to provide maximum flexibility to the SRA when interpreting firms’ arrangements.

There is no requirement for the introduction or referral etc to be made in return for money or other consideration.

Referral fee

‘Referral fee’ is defined by reference to section 57(7) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO 2012), meaning that when the SRA talks about a ‘referral fee’, it means a fee paid for the referral

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Practice Management News

Government announces reforms to apprenticeship system including minimum duration reduction

The government has announced a number of changes to ‘reduce apprenticeship bureaucracy’:

DSIT renames and refocuses AI Safety Institute to tackle security threats

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has announced the renaming of the 'AI Safety Institute' to the 'AI Security Institute', signalling a shift in focus towards addressing serious AI risks with security implications. The Institute will now concentrate on threats such as the use of AI in developing chemical and biological weapons, cyber-attacks, and enabling crimes like fraud and child sexual abuse. DSIT has moved away from addressing bias and freedom of speech concerns, instead prioritising the development of scientific evidence to inform policymakers on keeping the country safe as AI evolves. A new criminal misuse team will be launched to work with the Home Office on researching crime and security issues, including the use of AI in creating child sexual abuse images. The Institute will collaborate with various government bodies and the national security community to tackle these challenges.

HoC Library publishes briefing on progress of Employment Rights Bill 2024-25

The House of Commons (HoC) Library has published a briefing on the progress of the Employment Rights Bill 2024-25 (ERB). The briefing provides a summary of each of the stages of the ERB so far, including the key themes of the debates on unfair dismissal, flexible working, statutory sick pay, family leave, harassment protections, fire and rehire practices, collective bargaining in education and adult social care, trade union regulations, and labour market enforcement. The briefing also contains a summary of the amendments to the ERB so far.

ICO publishes final guidance on keeping employment records

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a final version of its guidance on keeping employment records. The guidance is designed to assist employers who are required to process personal information to comply with their obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. A draft version of the guidance, which was first added following a consultation by the ICO in 2023, was replaced by the final guidance on 5 February 2025. The ICO recommends that the guidance is used in conjunction with its suite of guidance on data protection and employment.

View Practice Management by content type :

News