The Solicitors Regulation Authority is considering the ramifications of a Court of Appeal decision to allow the magazine Private Eye to publish details of a complaint against former Law Society president Michael Napier. Napier, senior partner at Irwin Mitchell, had been seeking an injunction to stop publication of identifying details of a complaint against him.

The decision appears to clear the way for the publication of ombudsman rulings and other types of complaint involving solicitors or barristers, whether or not they are upheld. The SRA already publishes adjudication decisions on its website. An SRA spokesman said: ‘We are examining the judgment in close detail.’