Former clients of firms closed down as a result of interventions by the Solicitors Regulation Authority are to be asked about their experiences in a research project announced by the regulator today.

The SRA said the study of the impact of interventions on clients will ‘quantify and qualify those impacts in a bid to identify where we can learn lessons’.

The regulator said the research will look at:

  • What happens next for clients of intervened firms?
  • What can we learn from clients' experience of the intervention?
  • Are there any differences in the experiences of different ‘groups' of clients?

The research is being led by an academic team from University College London.

Participants will be asked about their experience of the intervention and the impact this made on their case. Questionnaires are likely to explore whether they were able to find another suitable service provider, whether they were still able to resolve their case and whether they knew why the intervention was taking place.

Helen Herniman, SRA director of post-enforcement, said: ‘We want to see what clients' experiences are when their solicitors firms are closed down. This involves not just those with cases that need immediate attention, but longer-term issues such as retrieving files.’

The research project aims to report back later this year.