SRA Diversity and EDI Guidance: What Solicitors Need to Know About the Updated Standards

Equality, diversity and inclusion obligations for solicitors have traditionally been anchored closely to the protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act 2010 — age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation. The Solicitors Regulation Authority's updated EDI guidance, issued in September 2025, extends the profession's practical expectations meaningfully beyond that statutory list, while also sharpening expectations around manager accountability and how firms respond to discriminatory conduct from clients.

This guide sets out the key elements of the updated guidance and what firms need to check against their current policies and practice.

Broadening the scope beyond the Equality Act's protected characteristics

The most distinctive feature of the SRA's updated guidance is that it addresses discriminatory conduct connected to characteristics that sit outside the Equality Act's nine protected characteristics — specifically, socio-economic background and regional accent. This does not create new legally protected characteristics in the way the Equality Act does, but it signals that the SRA expects firms to take a broader view of what constitutes discriminatory or exclusionary conduct in legal practice than the strict statutory minimum requires.

For firms, this means an EDI policy and training programme built solely around a checklist of the nine Equality Act characteristics is likely to fall short of what the SRA now expects in practice. Comments or treatment connected to a person's accent or socio-economic background — for example, assumptions made about a colleague's competence or client's sophistication based on how they speak or their apparent background — fall within the SRA's stated area of concern even though they are not directly protected characteristics under the Equality Act itself.

Enhanced manager accountability

The updated guidance places clearer accountability on managers and supervisors for addressing discriminatory behaviour they become aware of, moving away from an approach where responsibility for EDI issues sits primarily with a dedicated HR or compliance function, separate from day-to-day management. Under the updated expectations, a manager who is aware of discriminatory conduct within their team and fails to address it is treated as a matter of individual accountability, not simply an organisational policy gap.

This connects directly to the wider standards set out in our guide to effective supervision in legal practice, since supervisors are often best placed to observe day-to-day conduct within their teams and are now expected to treat addressing discriminatory behaviour as a core part of their supervisory responsibility, rather than an issue to defer entirely to HR.

New procedures for discriminatory client conduct

A further significant element of the updated guidance addresses discriminatory conduct by clients toward firm staff — a situation that has historically been difficult for firms to navigate given the commercial relationship with the client and, in litigation contexts, professional obligations around continuing to act. The guidance sets out procedures for terminating a client relationship where a client has engaged in discriminatory conduct toward staff, including a requirement for prior warning to the client before termination in appropriate circumstances, giving firms a clearer, more defensible route to end a client relationship on these grounds rather than having to construct a justification from first principles each time the issue arises.

Firms should treat this as an opportunity to build a standard internal process — including template warning correspondence and a clear escalation path — rather than leaving individual fee earners to manage a discriminatory client situation without firm-level support.

A focus on serious misconduct patterns for financial penalties

The SRA has also indicated that its enforcement focus for financial penalties in this area is directed at serious misconduct and patterns of discriminatory behaviour, rather than isolated or minor incidents. This does not mean lesser incidents are without consequence, but it signals that firms demonstrating a genuine, good-faith response to isolated issues — appropriate investigation, action against the individual involved, and policy reinforcement — are treated differently from firms where a pattern of unaddressed discriminatory conduct has been allowed to persist.

This is a useful point of reference for firms updating their approach to workplace equality, diversity and inclusion more generally, since it reinforces that a firm's genuine response to an incident — not merely the existence of a policy document — is what the SRA is ultimately assessing.

Frequently asked questions

When was the SRA's updated EDI guidance issued?

The updated guidance was issued in September 2025.

Does the guidance create new protected characteristics under the Equality Act?

No — socio-economic background and regional accent are not protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, but the SRA's guidance signals a broader area of regulatory concern beyond the strict statutory list.

Can a firm terminate a client relationship because of discriminatory conduct toward staff?

The SRA's guidance sets out procedures for doing so, including a requirement for prior warning to the client in appropriate circumstances, giving firms a clearer basis for termination than existed previously.

The SRA's updated EDI guidance asks firms to look beyond a narrow, checklist-based approach to equality and diversity, and to treat manager accountability and client conduct as active areas of responsibility rather than peripheral concerns. Firms should review current policies, supervisor training, and client-conduct procedures against the updated guidance rather than assuming existing Equality Act-focused practice is sufficient. Learnsignal's CPD courses cover SRA regulatory developments and professional conduct standards for solicitors.