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I am generally supportive of the SRA's efforts to modernise the legal profession whilst uphold professional standards, however, I would urge the SRA to consider the serious consequences of publishing individual Solicitors' mistakes. Solicitors are human beings, not machines, so everyone will make a mistake from time to time even if they do their best to avoid them. If an individual's mistakes are allowed to follow them forever then this will have disastrous consequences. Even where the mistake was made many years ago (for example, when the Solicitor was inexperienced) or where it was in practice someone else's fault (for example, due to lack of support within the firm, support staff not doing their job properly or because the relevant client was totally unreasonable etc.) then it will follow the Solicitor around and ruin their career prospects. Not only will they be unable to attract new work in their current jobs but potential employers will inevitably use this facility to check a job applicant's past record and will then refuse to offer a job to anyone who has made any mistakes. The older an individual gets the more likely they will have made a mistake at some point, so the less likely they will get a job. When combined with the fact that employers are already reluctant to employ older Solicitors because they cost more and the profession's existing ability to 'get around' age discrimination laws by advertising for, for example, an 'up to 5 years PQE Solicitor' (i.e. someone in their 20s) this will leave older Solicitors at a significant disadvantage in the job market when they are more in need of work because of their financial commitments. Publication of an individual's record will therefore have far reaching consequences for their livelihood and family life when they might in fact be an extremely competent Solicitor. If such information is published it should therefore be limited to listing a firm's mistakes rather than an individual's except perhaps in cases of serious misconduct. I write as someone who thankfully has not made any recordable mistakes (yet!).