By Gabriel Princewill-

Croline Corby is being brought in to lead change at the Solicitors Regulation Authority after a series of regulatory failures raised serious questions about its ability to protect clients and intervene before harm is done.

The new chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been presented as the right person to steer the embattled regulator through a period of reform, but her appointment comes with a formidable challenge: convincing the public that lessons have finally been learned from a string of costly law firm collapses.

Caroline Corby, who has chaired the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) since 2021, will join the SRA on 23 November, replacing Anna Bradley, who is leaving after eight years in the role.

The appointment comes as the regulator faces renewed scrutiny over its handling of major law firm failures, including Axiom Ince, SSB Law and PM Law Group. Together, the Axiom Ince and PM Law failures have been associated with approximately £100 million in client money losses, according to the Legal Services Board (LSB), which oversees the SRA.

The scale of the losses has intensified demands for a more proactive regulator, one capable of identifying warning signs, joining up intelligence and acting decisively before clients suffer financial harm. In September, the LSB announced further enforcement action against the SRA, warning that reforms had not yet demonstrated sufficient improvements in consumer protection. Board)

Corby’s appointment follows a difficult period for the SRA, with independent reviews identifying shortcomings in its handling of some of the sector’s most significant collapses.

The failure of Axiom Ince, which ceased trading in October 2023, exposed serious weaknesses in the regulator’s approach to identifying and responding to risks. Approximately £60 million in client money was missing when the firm closed, while around 1,400 people lost their jobs.

An independent review found that the SRA had not acted adequately, effectively or efficiently in the period leading up to its intervention. The findings prompted the LSB to issue binding directions requiring the regulator to strengthen its risk detection, protection of client money and oversight of firms with complex ownership and management structures. (Legal Services Board)

The collapse of SSB Law added to the concerns. The firm entered administration in January 2024 with debts exceeding £200 million, leaving former clients facing substantial legal costs following unsuccessful litigation claims, despite assurances they had received about no-win, no-fee arrangements.

A review published in October 2025 found that the SRA had failed to act effectively or efficiently on more than 100 reports concerning SSB over the period examined. The LSB subsequently initiated enforcement action over the regulator’s handling of the case.

More recently, an independent review of PM Law Group’s collapse found that the SRA missed opportunities to identify problems earlier because information held across the organisation was not properly brought together. Decisions were made with incomplete information, while capacity constraints limited the regulator’s ability to respond to emerging risks quickly enough.

The findings, published in September 2026, reinforced concerns that weaknesses identified in earlier cases had not been fully resolved.

Taken together, these cases highlight a central problem for the incoming chair: a regulator cannot adequately protect consumers if it fails to recognise the significance of warning signs already available to it.

Why Corby’s experience could matter

Corby arrives with experience spanning regulatory oversight, governance, public protection and organisational leadership.

As chair of the PSA, which oversees the regulation of healthcare professionals and accredited registers, she has overseen work to strengthen regulatory scrutiny, introduce a new framework of standards for regulators and expand engagement with stakeholders.

Her background also includes chairing fitness-to-practise hearings for several statutory healthcare regulators since 2015. She has worked in the City for 13 years, specialising in private equity, and currently holds senior non-executive roles at the Crown Prosecution Service, Peabody Trust and the Security Industry Authority.

That combination of experience could prove valuable as the SRA seeks to strengthen its oversight of law firms, improve board-level scrutiny and rebuild confidence among consumers and solicitors.

Her experience in healthcare regulation is particularly relevant to the challenge of holding regulated organisations to account, ensuring that concerns are properly investigated and maintaining public confidence in systems designed to protect people from harm.

However, her appointment alone will not resolve the SRA’s problems. The real test will be whether she can translate that experience into stronger decision-making, clearer accountability and measurable improvements in the regulator’s performance.

The changes the SRA urgently needs

One of Corby’s most important tasks will be helping to ensure that the regulator moves beyond reacting to individual complaints and becomes better at identifying patterns of risk across the legal sector.

Several priorities stand out from the independent reviews and the LSB’s directions.

Earlier intervention and better use of intelligence. The PM Law review identified failures to bring information together across the organisation. The SRA needs systems that allow investigators and senior decision-makers to see the full picture when a firm’s finances, management or client-money arrangements raise concerns.

Stronger protection of client money. The Axiom Ince collapse demonstrated the devastating consequences when substantial client funds go missing. Effective safeguards, stronger scrutiny of financial risks and timely intervention must be central to the regulator’s work.

Closer scrutiny of high-risk firms. Rapid expansion, mergers and acquisitions, complex corporate structures and the concentration of compliance responsibilities in a small number of individuals can create risks that require careful examination. The SRA needs to identify these warning signs early rather than wait until a crisis develops.

Clearer accountability at board level. The regulator’s leadership must receive timely and sufficiently detailed information about serious cases, challenge executive decisions and ensure that identified weaknesses lead to corrective action.

Evidence that reforms are working. New policies and procedures are not enough. The SRA must demonstrate that changes are resulting in earlier interventions, fewer missed warning signs and better protection for consumers. The LSB has specifically warned that progress in implementing reforms has not yet provided sufficient evidence of improved regulatory outcomes.

These priorities are not simply administrative matters. When law firms fail, clients can lose money, face unexpected bills and struggle to secure alternative legal representation. The consequences can be particularly severe for people who have entrusted a solicitor with their savings, a property transaction or a legal claim. SRA chief executive Sarah Rapson has welcomed Corby’s appointment, pointing to her regulatory and governance experience and her commitment to public protection.

Rapson said Corby’s leadership would be valuable as the organisation pursued its ambition to become a more modern, proactive and intelligence-led regulator.

Lisa Mayhew, the SRA’s senior independent board member who chaired the recruitment panel, also highlighted Corby’s regulatory expertise, commitment to consumer protection and experience of guiding transformation.

Incoming Law Society president Brett Dixon said restoring public and professional confidence and implementing the LSB’s directions following the Axiom Ince, SSB Law and PM Law failures would be key priorities for the new chair.

He added that the SRA’s new leadership had shown a willingness to listen and act when mistakes had been made, expressing hope that this would continue under Corby.

Those expectations place considerable responsibility on the incoming chair. She will need to oversee not only the delivery of reforms but also the difficult work of changing organisational practices so that emerging risks are recognised, escalated and acted upon without unnecessary delay.

The SRA has already begun changing its regulatory approach, and the independent reviews acknowledge progress in some areas. But the LSB’s latest assessment makes clear that the regulator still has work to do to demonstrate that those changes are translating into stronger consumer protection.

Corby takes over at a time when the credibility of legal regulation is under pressure. The SRA must protect the public while supporting a legal sector that remains vital to individuals, businesses and the wider justice system.

Her record in regulatory oversight gives the organisation a leader with relevant experience. Yet the failures that preceded her appointment were not isolated administrative errors: independent reviews identified recurring weaknesses in risk assessment, information-sharing and the escalation of serious concerns.

That makes the challenge clear. Corby must help ensure that the regulator learns from those findings, embeds effective safeguards and holds itself to the same standards of accountability it expects from the solicitors and firms it regulates.

Her success will not be measured by the promises made when she takes office, but by whether the SRA becomes demonstrably better at spotting trouble early, protecting clients’ money and acting before preventable harm occurs.

Considering the regulator seeking to restore public confidence, the next chapter must be about results, not simply reform.