We can take action against the people and firms we regulate (oversee) if they behave in a way that breaks the Code of Conduct in a serious way.
We welcome reports from the public, clients of those we regulate, other regulators as well as from the profession itself as it helps us ensure that those we regulate are keeping to the standards we expect of them.
We cannot deal with every type of problem people may have with those we regulate.
We focus our efforts on the most serious cases of misconduct where there is a real risk to the public and consumers or the standards expected of our legal professionals, ensuring that any decision to investigate is proportionate, balancing the public interest with the interests of the individual or firm whose conduct or behaviour has been called into question.
Examples of wrongdoing that might break the Code of Conduct in a serious way include:
- Dishonesty, theft and other criminal activity
- doing work that they are not legally allowed or qualified to do
- taking unfair advantage of others or being violent
- serious financial mismanagement
- discrimination and harassment of others or sexual misconduct
- exam cheating and plagiarism
- getting into trouble with the court, with another regulator, or professional body
- acting where there is a conflict of interest
- closing down a firm without telling clients
There are other ways that a person or law firm might break the Code. If you make a report to us, we will look at the information that is available to decide whether we can take any action.
How to report to us
If you are concerned that a person or firm has broken the CILEx Code of Conduct, or any of our other rules in a serious way, you can report them to us using the Misconduct Information Form on the left-hand side of this page.
You should give as much detail as you can. The information you provide must be true and accurate to the best of your knowledge. If you need help filling in the complaints form, or have problems opening, completing or emailing it, then please contact us.
Practitioner and Firms Directories
- You can find details of the fully qualified lawyers we regulate in our Practitioners Directory which you can find here.
- Access a list of all the law firms we oversee in our Authorised Entities Directory which can be found here.
If you want to report a person who says they are regulated by us but their information is not contained in the Directory, please contact CILEX.
