The Law Society of England and Wales: your practical guide

The Law Society of England and Wales is the professional body that represents solicitors, not the body that regulates them. For consumers, its most useful tools are Find a Solicitor and the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), which help you locate and assess regulated firms. Before instructing anyone, cross-check every solicitor on the SRA Solicitors Register, which is the definitive impartial source for regulation status.

Quick links for immediate action:

• Find a Solicitor — free Law Society directory
• SRA Solicitors Register — definitive regulation check
• Conveyancing Quality Scheme — quality mark for residential conveyancing firms

Key takeaways

The Law Society of England and Wales is a professional membership body, not the regulator; the SRA Solicitors Register is the definitive check for authorisation status, and CQS accreditation is the clearest quality signal for residential conveyancing clients.

Table of Contents

What the British Law Society is and what it does for you

The Law Society of England and Wales is a membership and representative body for solicitors, not a regulator. It lobbies government on behalf of the legal profession, sets practice guidance, and administers accreditation schemes that signal quality to consumers. Solicitors choose to join; membership is not a legal requirement to practise.

From a consumer perspective, the Society's most practical outputs are:

• Find a Solicitor — a free directory drawing on SRA data to help you locate regulated firms
• Firm accreditations — quality marks including Lexcel, CQS, and WIQS that firms display on their websites and correspondence
• Public guidance pages — plain-English explanations of legal processes and consumer rights

The Society was founded in 1825 and has evolved considerably since then. Its separation from the regulatory function happened formally in 2007 when the SRA became an independent body. That split is the single most important structural fact for consumers to understand: the Law Society advocates for solicitors, while the SRA holds them to account.

How the Law Society differs from the SRA and other bodies

Three bodies cover the legal profession in England and Wales, and each handles a distinct set of questions. Knowing which to contact saves time and frustration.

• Law Society — membership queries, accreditation checks (CQS, Lexcel), finding a solicitor, public guidance
• Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) — checking whether a solicitor or firm is currently authorised to practise, reporting regulatory breaches, authorising new entrants to the profession
• Legal Ombudsman — resolving service complaints after you have already complained to the firm itself

The GOV.UK Regulated Professions Register lists the Law Society as a regulatory authority entry, though its primary function is representative rather than regulatory. GOV.UK's own guidance on regulated professions directs consumers to the relevant regulator for authoritative registration details, which for solicitors means the SRA.

The SRA register is the definitive impartial check. A solicitor appearing in the Law Society's Find a Solicitor directory is a useful signal, but the directory draws on SRA data rather than independently verifying it. Always confirm regulation status directly on the SRA register before instructing.

Pro Tip: Use both tools together. Search the Law Society directory to build a shortlist of firms that match your legal issue and location, then open the SRA register in a second tab and verify each firm individually. Two minutes of cross-checking removes any doubt about authorisation.

How to use the Law Society's Find a Solicitor service

Find a Solicitor is a free service that searches an official database of solicitors and organisations regulated by the SRA for England and Wales. It is designed for discovery, not as a substitute for the SRA register.

Step-by-step search

1. Go to solicitors.lawsociety.org.uk. 2. Enter your legal issue (for example, residential conveyancing, family law, or employment). 3. Enter your postcode, town, or county to filter by location. 4. Apply additional filters to narrow results: language spoken, legal aid availability, disabled access, or British Sign Language (BSL). 5. Add an accreditation filter (such as CQS for conveyancing) to surface firms that hold a recognised quality mark. 6. Review the results list and note each firm's name, address, and any accreditations displayed. 7. Open the SRA register and verify each shortlisted firm before making contact.

Available filters at a glance

• Legal issue or area of law
• Postcode, town, or country
• Solicitor or firm name (if you already have a name to check)
• Language spoken
• Legal aid availability
• Disabled access
• British Sign Language

Start with issue and location only. A broad first search gives you more options; you can then layer in the accreditation filter to identify CQS-accredited firms for conveyancing work. Looking for a firm's client charter statement on its website is a useful secondary check once you have a shortlist.

How to check whether a solicitor or firm is regulated

The SRA Solicitors Register is the definitive impartial source for checking whether a solicitor or firm holds current authorisation to practise. No other directory or listing replaces it.

Steps to verify regulation

1. Go to register.sra.org.uk. 2. Enter the solicitor's full name or the firm's name in the search field. 3. Review the result entry. A regulated solicitor's record will show their SRA ID number, current status (authorised), and any conditions or restrictions on their practice. 4. For a firm, check that the organisation itself is authorised, not just individual solicitors within it. 5. If the record shows restrictions or conditions, read them carefully before proceeding.

What to do if you get no result

A 'no results' finding on the SRA register does not confirm that a person is unregulated. The SRA warns consumers that search results depend on the exact name entered. If you find no result, ask the solicitor directly for their SRA ID number, then search by that number. If you still cannot confirm authorisation, contact the SRA directly before instructing.

This warning matters most in conveyancing, where fraud risk is higher than in many other legal areas. Verifying regulation before transferring any funds is a basic but critical step. For context on how conveyancing timelines and processes work, the guide on how long conveyancing takes explains what to expect at each stage.

What the Conveyancing Quality Scheme means for you as a buyer or seller

The Conveyancing Quality Scheme is a Law Society recognised quality standard for SRA-regulated practices in residential conveyancing. It covers competence, risk management, and client service, and it is the most consumer-relevant accreditation the Law Society administers.

Firms that hold CQS accreditation commit to the CQS client charter, which sets out specific consumer-facing promises:

• Clear explanation of steps — the firm must explain the conveyancing process in plain terms at the outset
• Cost disclosure — likely costs must be disclosed upfront, with no hidden additions
• Regular progress updates — the firm must keep you informed throughout the transaction
• Fair treatment — the firm must treat you professionally and handle your matter without unnecessary delay

CQS accreditation does not guarantee a perfect transaction, but it does mean the firm has been assessed against a defined standard and has committed to operating transparently. For buyers and sellers, it is a practical filter when shortlisting firms. Understanding fixed-fee conveyancing structures alongside CQS cost-disclosure expectations gives you a clearer picture of what a transparent quote should look like.

Pro Tip: When calling a CQS-accredited firm for the first time, ask these three questions directly: "Can you give me a written breakdown of all likely costs before I instruct you?", "How often will you update me on progress?", and "What is your process if there is a delay?" A firm operating to the charter's standards will answer all three without hesitation.

Consumer help and complaints: who to contact and when

The Law Society is not a complaints body. It cannot investigate your solicitor, award compensation, or discipline a firm. Knowing the correct escalation path saves time when something goes wrong.

Who handles what

• Finding a solicitor or checking accreditations — Law Society (Find a Solicitor, CQS pages)
• Checking regulation status — SRA Solicitors Register
• Reporting a regulatory breach or serious misconduct — SRA
• Resolving a service complaint — Legal Ombudsman (after complaining to the firm first)

Escalation path for service complaints

1. Raise the complaint with the firm directly. Every regulated firm must have a written complaints procedure. Ask for it. 2. Allow the firm time to respond. The SRA requires firms to acknowledge and address complaints within a reasonable period. 3. If unresolved, contact the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman handles service complaints and can award redress where the service fell below an acceptable standard. 4. For regulatory breaches (dishonesty, misuse of client funds, serious misconduct), report directly to the SRA rather than the Legal Ombudsman.

Common consumer questions

• *Can the Law Society get my money back?* No. Compensation for service failures goes through the Legal Ombudsman. The SRA's Compensation Fund covers losses caused by dishonesty or failure to account for client money.
• *Does the Law Society regulate solicitors?* No. The SRA is the independent regulator. The Law Society is a membership and representative body.
• *Can I complain to the Law Society about my solicitor's behaviour?* The Law Society does not investigate individual complaints. Direct conduct concerns to the SRA and service complaints to the Legal Ombudsman.

Official links and contact details

Use these sources directly for searches, regulation checks, and complaints:

• Find a Solicitor — Law Society free directory; start here to build a shortlist
• Law Society public guidance — filter explanations and consumer advice pages
• SRA Solicitors Register — definitive regulation check; use before instructing any firm
• Conveyancing Quality Scheme — CQS accreditation details and how to verify a firm's status
• CQS client charter — consumer-facing commitments you can hold a firm to
• Legal Ombudsman — service complaints after exhausting the firm's own procedure
• GOV.UK Regulated Professions Register — official government listing for the Law Society, including contact details

The Law Society's principal office is at 113 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1PL. Contact details including telephone and email are listed on the GOV.UK Regulated Professions Register entry linked above.

Why these checks matter most when you are buying or selling property

Conveyancing sits at the intersection of the largest financial transaction most people ever make and a legal process with very little margin for error. The checks described in this guide are not bureaucratic box-ticking. They are the practical steps that separate a smooth transaction from a costly dispute.

Verifying a firm on the SRA register before instructing costs two minutes. Asking a CQS-accredited firm the three charter questions costs nothing. Both steps give you a clear picture of who you are dealing with before any money changes hands. For conveyancing clients specifically, local expertise in searches and title issues adds a further layer of assurance that a national directory search alone cannot provide.

Conveyancing-solicitor connects buyers and sellers with SRA-regulated conveyancing firms that hold the quality marks described in this guide. If you want to compare fixed-fee quotes from vetted firms without the legwork of individual directory searches, get an instant conveyancing quote and see how much you could save.

This article is general information, not a substitute for advice from a qualified lawyer. Consult a qualified legal professional about your own circumstances before acting on anything here.

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