Working with Vulnerable Clients: A Practical Guide for Solicitors and Fee Earners

Every fee earner will act for a vulnerable client at some point, often without realising it straight away. Vulnerability is not always visible: it can be a temporary state brought on by bereavement or illness, a lifelong condition, or a situational pressure such as financial hardship or coercion from a family member. Getting client care right in these situations is not just good practice, it is a regulatory expectation. This guide sets out what vulnerability looks like in a legal practice, what the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) expects, and the practical adjustments that genuinely help.

What "Vulnerable" Means in a Legal Practice Context

The SRA and the Law Society both describe vulnerability as something that can affect any client, at any time, rather than a fixed label attached to certain people. A client may be vulnerable because of a permanent factor, such as a learning disability or long-term mental health condition, or a temporary one, such as shock following a bereavement, the stress of a relationship breakdown, or the disorientation that can follow a serious diagnosis. The same client might be entirely capable of instructing you clearly on one matter and need significant support on another, at a different time, under different pressure. The starting point for every fee earner is to treat vulnerability as something to watch for in every client relationship, not just a checkbox for an obviously at-risk group.

What the SRA Expects of You

The SRA Principles require solicitors to act with independence, honesty and integrity, and in a way that encourages equality, diversity and inclusion. The SRA Codes of Conduct build on this by requiring that clients' individual needs and circumstances are considered so that services are provided in a way that is fair and does not discriminate. The SRA's published guidance on meeting the needs of vulnerable people makes clear that firms should think about how a client's circumstances might affect their ability to instruct the firm, understand advice, or make decisions, and should adapt their approach accordingly. This is reinforced by the Law Society's practice note on meeting the needs of vulnerable clients, which sets out good practice for identifying vulnerability and adjusting service delivery. None of this requires a fee earner to become a medical expert. It requires curiosity, patience, and a willingness to ask whether the standard way of doing things is actually working for this particular client.

Firms should also have clear escalation routes, so a fee earner who spots a concern knows who to raise it with. This is closely tied to wider supervision arrangements: see effective supervision in legal practice for how firms build the oversight structures that let concerns about a client's wellbeing or instructions reach a supervisor quickly.

Common Types of Vulnerability You Will Encounter

• Capacity concerns: difficulty understanding, retaining, weighing or communicating decisions about the matter in hand.
• Mental health conditions: conditions that may affect concentration, memory, decision-making or emotional resilience during a stressful transaction or dispute.
• Age-related factors: both older clients affected by cognitive decline, sensory impairment or isolation, and younger clients who may lack experience of legal or financial processes.
• Bereavement and acute distress: grief, shock or trauma can temporarily affect a client's ability to absorb information and make considered decisions.
• Language and communication barriers: clients with limited English proficiency, or those who need information in an accessible format such as easy read or large print.
• Digital exclusion: clients who cannot access online portals, email correspondence or video meetings comfortably, particularly relevant as more client care moves online.
• Financial hardship: clients under financial pressure may rush decisions, be reluctant to ask questions about costs, or be targeted by third parties offering to "help".
• Risk of coercion or undue influence: a client who appears to be instructed, accompanied or spoken for by someone else throughout the retainer.

Capacity and the Mental Capacity Act 2005

Where capacity is in doubt, the starting point in England and Wales is the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), which sets out five statutory principles. A person must be assumed to have capacity unless it is established that they lack it. A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help them do so have been taken without success. A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because they make an unwise one. Any act done, or decision made, on behalf of a person who lacks capacity must be done in their best interests. Finally, before the act is done or the decision is made, regard must be had to whether the purpose can be achieved in a way that is less restrictive of the person's rights and freedom of action. Capacity is also decision-specific and time-specific: a client can have capacity to instruct you on a straightforward will while lacking capacity for a more complex financial transaction, and capacity can fluctuate day to day. Fee earners should never assume a diagnosis automatically removes capacity, and should document their reasoning where a capacity concern is raised and addressed.

Practical Adjustments That Make a Real Difference

Involving a family member, carer or advocate can be genuinely helpful, but it must be done carefully. Confirm who the client wants involved, keep a note of that instruction, and remember that confidentiality is owed to the client, not to the person accompanying them. Where capacity is uncertain, a third party should support the client's own decision-making rather than make the decision for them.

Red Flags for Undue Influence and Financial Abuse

The Law Society has highlighted financial abuse of vulnerable clients as a growing concern, and solicitors are often well placed to spot it because they see instructions, funds and family dynamics that others do not. Warning signs worth noting include a client who is never seen alone, sudden changes to a will or gift instructions that benefit one family member disproportionately, a third party who answers questions on the client's behalf or insists on being present for every call, reluctance or anxiety when a client is asked about a transaction directly, unexplained withdrawals or new powers of attorney appearing shortly before a significant transaction, and instructions that seem inconsistent with the client's previously expressed wishes. None of these signs proves undue influence on its own, but taken together, or where a fee earner has an unease they cannot quite pin down, the right response is to slow down, see the client alone, ask open questions, and raise the concern with a supervisor rather than proceeding on autopilot. This connects directly to the firm's wider client care and conflicts obligations, covered in more depth in professional ethics, conflicts and client care for solicitors, and to due diligence on where money is coming from, discussed in source of funds and wealth checks for legal practitioners.

Building This Into Everyday Practice

Working well with vulnerable clients is a skill that improves with structured learning and regular refreshers, not a one-off training session. Firms should build vulnerability awareness into onboarding for new fee earners and support staff, keep an easy escalation route open for anyone with a concern, and review client care letters and meeting formats periodically to check they remain accessible. Ongoing professional development is a practical way to keep this awareness current across a team; explore Learnsignal's CPD courses for options covering client care, ethics and related compliance topics.

FAQs

Does a client with a mental health condition automatically lack capacity?

No. Capacity is decision-specific and time-specific, and the Mental Capacity Act 2005 starts from a presumption that every adult has capacity unless it is established otherwise for the particular decision in question.

Can I take instructions from a family member instead of the client?

Generally no, unless the client has given clear instructions for that person to act on their behalf or there is a valid power of attorney in place. Instructions should come from the client, and you should confirm this by speaking to them alone where possible.

What should I do if I suspect undue influence but have no proof?

Raise it with your supervisor promptly, document what you observed factually, and consider seeing the client alone before proceeding further. A suspicion does not need to be proven before it is worth flagging internally.

Do these obligations only apply to older clients?

No. Vulnerability can affect clients of any age, including younger clients unfamiliar with legal processes, and can be temporary, such as during bereavement or acute financial stress.

Treating vulnerability as a normal part of client care, rather than an exception, protects clients and helps firms meet their SRA obligations with confidence.