What the regulators do

We set standards for legal professionals in England and Wales.

This includes the standards of behaviour that we expect from them, and qualifications and training they must complete.

We can act in the best interests of the public if we find evidence that a legal professional is not meeting the right standards.

There are lots of ways we do this. It could include restricting how a legal professional can work, or helping someone replace money they lost because of a legal professional's actions. We can close down a legal firm or stop someone from being a legal professional altogether.

We have information about what you should expect from legal professional .

The best way to find out more about what we can do is to look at our websites. See our contact a legal regulator page.

What the regulators can't do

We don't handle complaints that people have about their legal professional that are handled by the Legal Ombudsman.

The Legal Ombudsman is an independent organisation that can help you if you want to complain.

We can't give you legal advice about a situation.

We can't award you compensation, or get your legal costs reduced.

Who we work with

We are grateful to the Legal Services Consumer Panel, the Legal Ombudsman and the Legal Choices Advisory Panel for their input.

Members of the Legal Choices Advisory Panel have input into Legal Choices content and advise on issues faced by members of the public and businesses. The 17 organisations on the Legal Choices Advisory Panel are listed below.

More about Legal Choices

To learn more about the work of Legal Choices, see our Legal Choices summary report 2017–2020, which offers an overview of recent activities, challenges and achievements.

Legal Choices covers England and Wales

Legal Choices is run by the legal regulators of England and Wales, and so does not cover the separate legal systems of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

For help with your legal choices in Scotland and Northern Ireland, we can suggest