Solicitors Regulation Authority chief executive Sarah Rapson yesterday marked her first 100 days by promising to ‘reset’ the regulator’s relationship with solicitors.
‘We can seem distant to the regulated community,’ Rapson told the Gazette in her first media interview. ‘I would like us to come across as empathetic. Holding people to high standards, but in a more human way.’
Under Rapson’s predecessor, Paul Philip, a common criticism of the watchdog was that it was insufficiently attuned to the realities of legal practice. Rapson, who wants to shift that perception, added that she remains ‘in listening mode’ when talking to lawyers about how the regulator goes about its work. ‘I am really keen to engage and hear from solicitors what the issues are,’ she added.
Rapson is not yet discussing specifics of the SRA’s work programme, but concedes she has a ‘turnaround’ job to do following the Axiom Ince and SSB debacles. She has already stamped her authority in the boardroom by appointing a new executive director for transformation who will drive operational improvements. Former Slaughter and May solicitor Deborah Jones, deputy managing director of the Payment Systems Regulator, has arrived on secondment.
One of Jones’s tasks will be to grapple with a steep increase in conduct complaints to the SRA, which climbed 80% year on year in the last quarter of 2025. One likely explanation, said Rapson, is that artificial intelligence has made it easier for clients to draft complaints.
Rapson also stressed that the regulator needs to get better at spotting risks and acting upon them – a point underlined by Monday’s demise of another accumulator. She wants to entrench a ‘culture of curiosity’ across SRA teams that will enable them to identify potential casualties earlier.
Rapson is certainly enduring a baptism of fire. Recent setbacks also include a string of failed SLAPP cases. Asked if the SRA will reset its approach to prosecuting alleged abusive litigation in the wake of its latest defeat (p10), Rapson said: ‘It’s true we’ve had some cases that didn’t go our way recently. We need to reflect and see what the lessons are going to be for our approach.’
Read the full interview in next week’s Gazette
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