What is a law firm intervention?
21st May, 2026
If you have an ongoing legal case and your law firm encounters financial difficulty, your solicitors are absent or incapacitated through illness, disability or death, or if there are concerns about their conduct and compliance with regulations, you may encounter a situation whereby the law firm is intervened.
All solicitors and law firms in England and Wales are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). It is their responsibility to ensure that law firms comply with their professional and regulatory requirements and adhere to the codes of practice and maintain insurance to protect clients’ money.
If the SRA determines that a law firm has not been acting in accordance with the regulations, or if they consider there to be a risk to clients, clients money or the wider public, then they can intervene by closing the law firm and preventing it from continuing to act for clients. Intervention is a serious measure that will be deemed necessary by the SRA based on the severity of the risk to clients and the public, and how likely harm is to occur.
What happens when a law firm is intervened?
When an intervention takes place, “intervention agents” take over the firm and review all documents and papers relating to the firm’s clients. This includes any financial records and files. Any money held by the firm will be returned to the person or company it belongs to, provided they can trace its origin. It is important to note that the intervention agent would not normally take over your case. They are there to ensure that the documents, files and funds are retrieved and safeguarded until clients can arrange alternative legal representation.
Where the intervened firm was acting in connection with the administration of an estate, particularly where the firm or an individual solicitor had been appointed as an executor under a will, additional legal issues can arise which may require specialist advice.
What do I do if my law firm is intervened?
If you have an ongoing case with a law firm that has been intervened, the law firm cannot carry on acting on the matter. If an intervention has taken place, any ongoing matters will be on hold until a new firm has been appointed.
At Ward Hadaway, we have a number of specialist teams that can ensure the intervened firm is removed from your matters as soon as possible. We can then act in your best interests to retrieve your file from the intervention agents and progress any ongoing matters and advise on the options available to you.
We have specialist advisors who can assist in the removal of executors but can also assist in relation to cases relating to:
- Disputed Wills and Estates
- Removal of executors/trustees
- Wills & Probate
If you’d like to discuss your case, please contact Matthew Morton or Ashleigh Lavender. You can also fill out the form below and a member of our team will be in touch.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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