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There is a right of appeal by the Lay Applicant to the High Court under section 49(2), Solicitors Act 1974 (as amended). The parties to the appeal are you as the person challenging the decision (called the Appellant) and the solicitor(s) against whom your application is made.

You must provide a copy of your application to the Tribunal and SRA. The Tribunal and/or the SRA may apply to the High Court to be joined into the appeal as an interested party, but this will happen only very rarely.

The application will be reviewed by a clerk who will issue some directions which will include the hearing date for the application to be considered.

The SRA will require 28 days in which to respond and the hearing will take place on the first available date after that period of time has expired. You must attend the hearing to make your application and you are responsible for calling any witness evidence on which you wish to rely.

The Tribunal does not have power to award compensation. The Legal Ombudsman does have power to do so. Please see the Legal Ombudsman’s website for more details.

Yes. Most hearings are open to the public and we encourage remote attendance by Zoom.

However, any party to a case and any person who claims to be affected by it can apply to the Tribunal for the hearing, or part of it, to be held in private on the grounds of exceptional hardship or exceptional prejudice to a party, a witness or any person affected by the application. The Tribunal will only grant the application in those exceptional circumstances if it is satisfied that the grounds have been met. The Tribunal’s order on such an application will always reflect what it considers to be just and proper.

For further details please refer to the Solicitors Disciplinary Rules.

The Tribunal does not produce written transcripts of its hearings; however, it does provide audio copies of hearings available on request.  A copy of a hearing is not available when the hearing took place in private or when the Tribunal has ordered that the recording should not be released.  Parties to a case are always entitled to an audio copy of the hearing.

Requests for recordings should be sent to enquiries@solicitorsdt.com

Recordings are provided free of charge.  

Yes. If the name of the solicitor you are interested in does not appear in our published judgments, then please contact us and a member of staff will assist you.

Yes, in most cases. Judgments are published on our website in accordance with our Judgment Publication Policy.  This Policy sets out how long different types of Judgment will remain on the website. 

Judgments which have been removed from the website in accordance with the Policy can normally be obtained from the Tribunal’s office.  Please contact us and a member of staff will be happy to assist you.

In certain cases, particularly if the Tribunal has ordered that the hearing should take place in private, the Judgment may not be available to anyone other than the parties to the case without specific permission of the Tribunal. 

The Tribunal does not have power to award compensation. The Legal Ombudsman does have power to do so. Please see the Legal Ombudsman’s website for more details.

The SDT aims to produce judgments within seven weeks of the last day of the hearing in 85% of cases. Judgments may take longer to produce in lengthy and/or complex cases.

Yes, you must tell the Chair of the Tribunal from whose decision the appeal is brought that you are appealing against the decision – see Civil Procedure Rules Rule 52 and Practice Direction 52D, paragraph 3.4

You must send your Appellant’s Notice marked for the attention of the Chair of the Tribunal which heard your case to the SDT by email to enquiries@solicitorsdt.com

Appeals from substantive decisions of the Tribunal lie to the Administrative Court. The Tribunal is not a party to appeals from its substantive decisions.

Appeals from substantive decisions of the Tribunal are made to the Administrative Court. As from 1 October 2013, the time limit for lodging an appeal is 21 days from when the Tribunal’s written Judgment is provided to the parties – see Civil Procedure Rules Rule 52 and Practice Direction 52D. The Tribunal’s written Judgment (or in some cases Memorandum), which usually becomes available 2 – 7 weeks after the hearing.

For further information on how to appeal please contact the Administrative Court Office using the contact details below:

Administrative Court Office 
The Royal Courts of Justice 
Strand 
London 
England 
WC2A 2LL 
DX 44450 RCJ / STRAND

Telephone

• Royal Courts of Justice Switchboard: 020 7947 6000
• Issue and General Enquiries: 020 7947 6655