Home > Can we help > Approved regulators
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful and reliable. Our cookies page explains what they are, which ones we use, and how you can manage or remove them. Don't show this message again.

Approved Regulators

Approved Regulators

The Legal Services Board is the oversight regulator for legal services Approved Regulators in the Legal Services Act 2007. These bodies directly regulate the lawyers practising in England and Wales. Some of the approved regulators are also licensing authorities which means that they can license alternative business structures that provide reserved legal activities.

Below are listed the approved regulators and licensing authorities and the reserved legal activities which they regulate.

There are links to each of the Approved Regulators. As the Approved Regulators are required to separate their representative functions from their regulatory functions, there may be more than one link for each Approved Regulator.



Profession Approved Regulatory (representative body) Independent Regulatory body Approved regulator (AR)

Licensing Authority (LA)		 Reserved legal activities regulated
Solicitors Law Society Solicitors Regulation Authority AR

LA
  • The exercise of right of audience
  • The conduct of litigation
  • Reserved instrument activities
  • Probate activities
  • The administration of oaths
    		•
    Barristers Bar Council Bar Standards Board AR
  • The exercise of right of audience
  • The conduct of litigation
  • Reserved instrument activities
  • Probate activities
  • The administration of oaths
    • Legal Executives Chartered Institute of Legal Executives ILEX Professional Standards Limited AR
  • The exercise of right of audience
  • The conduct of litigation
  • The administration of oaths
    		•
    Licensed Conveyancers Council for Licensed Conveyancers (regulatory body for Licensed Conveyancers, no representative body) AR

    LA
  • Reserved instrument activities
  • Probate activities
  • The administration of oaths
    		•
    Patent Attorneys Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA) Intellectual Property Regulation Board

    (Regulatory body for both CIPA and ITMA)    		 AR
  • The exercise of right of audience
  • The conduct of litigation
  • Reserved instrument activities
  • The administration of oaths
    		•
    Trade Mark Attorneys Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys (ITMA)
    Law Costs Draftsmen Associaton of Costs Lawyers Costs Lawyer Standards Board AR
  • The exercise of right of audience
  • The conduct of litigation
  • The administration of oaths
    		•
    Notaries Master of the Faculties (regulatory body for Notaries, no representative body) AR
  • Reserved instrument activities
  • Probate activities
  • Notarial Activities
  • The administration of oaths
    		•

    The following are also approved regulators for probate activities only but do not currently authorise anyone to offer this service: