Partner, Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP)

1w1 week ago

London, GB · Full-time · £200,000 – £350,000

About this role

EY is a global network of professional services firms engaged in consulting, transaction, assurance and tax services with member firms in over 170 countries. The UK firm of Ernst & Young LLP has over 900 partners and 20,000 employees, regulated by the SRA for Law services. We seek a Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) to oversee compliance with SRA Standards and Regulations for six partners and 200 employees.

The COLP acts as a senior, visible guardian of ethics, client protection, and professional standards, maintaining an effective system of controls. This role supports the EY All in Strategy by delivering prompt, pragmatic, adaptable and commercial advice to all levels. Work occurs within the UK&I Tax and Law Quality and Risk Management team, highly varied at the cutting edge of business practice.

Responsibilities span regulatory governance and oversight, including maintaining the firmwide compliance framework mapped to SRA Standards and Regulations. Key focus areas cover systems and controls like breach management and quality assurance. Multi-disciplinary practice specifics ensure separation of legal versus non-legal services with robust information barriers.

The role demands curiosity, intelligence and energy in a multi-disciplinary firm constantly innovating for clients. It involves monitoring legal practice risks such as client care, conflicts, and competence. This position provides visibility and leadership in upholding professional standards across practice groups.

Requirements

Qualified solicitor with practising certificate suitable for COLP role
Deep knowledge of SRA Standards and Regulations, including Codes of Conduct and Authorisation Rules
Experience managing compliance in SRA-regulated legal practice
Understanding of MDP/ABS requirements and multi-disciplinary firm operations
Expertise in legal practice risks such as conflicts, undertakings, client care, and information security
Ability to design and oversee systems of controls, policies, and breach management
Skills in quality assurance, file reviews, and competence monitoring for solicitors
Proven capacity to provide pragmatic, commercial advice on compliance matters

Responsibilities

Maintain and continually improve the firmwide compliance framework for legal services, mapped to the SRA Standards and Regulations
Establish clear lines of responsibility and second-line monitoring for legal practice risks including client care, conflicts, confidentiality, undertakings, competence, supervision, complaints
Ensure the firm’s structure, ownership and managers remain compliant with authorisation conditions and promptly notify changes
Design and maintain proportionate policies, procedures, and MI for legal services, ensuring they are understood and applied
Operate an effective breach management process including capture, triage, root-cause analysis, remediation, and SRA reporting
Oversee quality assurance, including file reviews, supervision arrangements, and competence/CPD monitoring
Ensure compliance with SRA Transparency Rules on website disclosures, complaints information, and pricing
Ensure robust separation and governance of legal vs non-legal services and maintain information barriers for multi-disciplinary practice