A law firm group that employs about 600 people across multiple practices and offices has closed its doors, leaving staff and clients facing immediate uncertainty over work, files and ongoing cases. The shutdown affects a network of firms rather than a single practice, and it spans locations around the country. Staff now face questions about pay, notice and redundancy procedures, while clients need clarity on who will handle live matters and how their money and documents will be safeguarded. Regulators set strict rules for client funds and file handling when a law firm stops trading, and employment law sets out consultation and redundancy duties for larger employers. The coming days will focus on safeguarding client interests, managing live court deadlines, and setting out the formal process for closing or transferring work.
Impact on employees and contracts
Employees in a large legal group rely on employment contracts, staff handbooks and company policies to confirm notice rights, accrued holiday pay and severance arrangements. Where groups employ hundreds of staff, any closure can test payroll, HR and communications systems. In the UK, law requires employers to consult collectively when they propose 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within a 90-day period. That process includes defined timelines and information for affected staff. If the employer cannot pay statutory entitlements, staff may have routes to claim certain sums through public schemes, depending on the legal status of the employer and any insolvency process.
The size and spread of the group raise practical questions about which corporate entity employs each person and which entity holds the duty to consult and pay. In law firm groups, staff can sit in separate companies under a single brand or group umbrella. That structure matters because each employer entity carries its own duties. Managers typically identify which entity employs each team member and which consultation rules apply at each site. While the closure prompts concerns about immediate income, employees’ rights flow from statute and contract rather than from the group brand.
Duties towards clients and live cases
When a law firm stops trading, clients need clear direction on who will act for them, where their files will go, and how to access client money. Courts expect parties to manage representation and meet deadlines. If a solicitor steps off the record in litigation, they must file and serve a notice, and the court may require new details of representation. In transactional work, firms must manage undertakings, exchange of contracts and completion funds with great care, because undertakings bind the solicitor and the firm.
Client money sits under strict rules. Firms in England and Wales must follow the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Accounts Rules, which require firms to keep client money separate, reconcile accounts, and return client funds promptly when due. If a firm cannot continue to hold or return funds, an intervention by the regulator or a transfer to a safe holding arrangement can protect clients. Conveyancing, probate and personal injury matters often involve client balances and undertakings. The closure of a group can therefore lead to a staged transfer of matters to other authorised firms, with written notices to clients and, where needed, consent.
Regulatory powers and law firm closure procedures in England and Wales
In England and Wales, the SRA has powers to intervene in a law firm to protect client interests. An intervention removes the firm’s ability to practise and secures client files and money. The SRA can appoint an intervention agent to take possession of files, account for client money, and notify clients about how to retrieve papers or appoint new lawyers. An intervention is a statutory process, and costs of the intervention fall on the intervened firm, not on clients. Not every law firm closure involves an intervention; some firms close in an orderly way and transfer files and balances under agreed plans.
Closing a firm also engages professional indemnity insurance (PII) requirements. The SRA’s Minimum Terms and Conditions require participating insurers to provide run-off cover when a firm closes without a successor practice. Run-off cover protects clients with claims that arise after closure from work done before closure. If a firm arranges a successor practice, the successor usually takes on liability for past work and PII continues with that practice. These rules exist to protect clients and to manage risk in the legal services market, even where a firm or group stops trading.
Group structures and insurance considerations
Large legal groups often operate through separate incorporated practices, limited liability partnerships, or service companies. Each entity may hold its own SRA authorisation, PII policy, and client account. A shutdown across a group can therefore involve multiple authorisations and multiple insurers. Each firm’s closure plan, successor arrangements and run-off obligations will depend on its own regulatory status and policy terms. Where a group brand spans England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, different regulators and insurers may be involved, because each jurisdiction oversees its own solicitors and practices.
Professional indemnity insurance sits at the centre of any law firm closure. Insurers assess open claims, notifications and potential exposure from ongoing matters. If a firm closes without a successor practice, run-off cover normally lasts six years under the SRA terms in England and Wales. That period aligns with common limitation periods for civil claims. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, different rules and market terms apply. Clients do not arrange this cover; firms and insurers manage it under regulatory minimum terms. This framework aims to ensure client protection continues after the last day of trading.
Data and confidentiality obligations during closure
Law firms hold sensitive data and confidential information. UK data protection law requires firms to process personal data lawfully, keep it secure, and retain it no longer than necessary. When a firm closes or transfers matters, it must handle files and electronic records in line with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. That includes secure transfer to a new firm, safe storage, or secure destruction at the end of the retention period. Firms must also respect legal professional privilege and confidentiality, which protect client communications regardless of the firm’s trading status.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can regulate data handling, while legal regulators oversee professional duties. These regimes run alongside each other. If a firm moves files to another authorised firm, it typically notifies clients and obtains consent where required. In litigation, court orders may direct disclosure or preservation, which can affect file handling. Staff with system access must follow clear internal controls during a closure to protect data and to hand back or disable credentials. These steps seek to ensure clients do not lose access to their documents and that their information remains secure.
Court deadlines, undertakings and access to justice
Live court deadlines continue to run, and parties must comply with orders and procedural rules. If lawyers come off the record, parties must update the court. In urgent cases, such as injunctions or time-limited appeals, gaps in representation can create immediate risks for litigants. Courts can make directions to manage changes in representation and can list urgent hearings where needed. The Civil Procedure Rules require parties to act promptly and cooperate to manage cases efficiently, including when representation changes.
Solicitors’ undertakings have binding effect and survive a firm’s closure. An undertaking is a promise that a solicitor gives in the course of practice, often about completion funds or documents in property deals. The courts can enforce undertakings. If a firm cannot perform an undertaking because it closed, another authorised person may need to step in under an agreed transfer or under directions from the court or regulator. These principles exist to protect transactions and the administration of justice, and they apply regardless of a firm’s trading status.
What this means
- Staff employed by a large law firm group face defined rights under employment law, including consultation duties for large-scale redundancies, notice pay, and routes to claim statutory sums where applicable.
- Clients of closed law firms remain protected by legal regulators’ rules on client money, file security and run-off insurance, which continue to operate after closure.
- Live cases require prompt procedural steps to update representation and to meet court deadlines; undertakings and professional duties continue to bind solicitors and firms despite a closure.
- Data and confidentiality obligations remain in force; firms must handle personal data and privileged material securely during any transfer or storage process.
When and where
The closure affects a group of multiple law firms and offices across the UK.
