THE LAW
Six reserved activities
The Legal Services Act 2007 reserves six activities, including rights of audience, conducting litigation and probate, to authorised people.
Check a titleStart
WHO'S WHO IN LAW
Not every lawyer
is the same.
'Lawyer' is a broad word. 'Barrister' is a protected title.
In England and Wales some legal work can only be done by authorised people, and regulators keep public registers you can search. This independent guide explains who's who, quoting the regulators. It is not legal advice and not a law firm.
6reserved legal activities
Check a titleKeep in mind
- Know the title
- Check the register
- Know where to complain
- Regulated means protected
THE SHORT ANSWER
Titles, registers
and reserved work.
Regulated advisers have an official body watching over them.
Unregulated ones may cost less but give fewer protections.
BARRISTERS
A protected title
Only someone Called to the Bar can use the title barrister, and to provide legal services they need a valid practising certificate from the Bar Standards Board.
See the numbers
CHECKING
Search a register
Regulators publish registers: the Barristers' Register and the Law Society's Find a Solicitor, for people regulated by the SRA.
How to checkGeneral information only, not legal advice. For advice on your own situation, speak to a qualified lawyer or a free advice service.
CHECK A TITLE
Who is
regulated?
Pick a kind of legal adviser to see how they are regulated. The bar shows how much regulatory oversight the title carries for legal work.
Based on Legal Choices (run by the legal regulators), the Bar Standards Board and CILEx Regulation. General information, not legal advice.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
Reserved work,
public records.
One number from the Act,
one from the solicitors' database.
6
Reserved legal activities
Rights of audience, conduct of litigation, reserved instrument activities, probate activities, notarial activities and the administration of oaths.
LEGAL SERVICES ACT 2007 · s.12
218,168
Legal professionals in the database
The Law Society's free Find a Solicitor service describes itself as the official database of 218,168 legal professionals, when checked on 19 October 2026.
FIND A SOLICITOR · LAW SOCIETY
The Bar Standards Board says its register can lag by up to an hour, and that it may be a criminal offence for someone who is not a barrister to describe themselves as one.
FOUR THINGS THE REGULATORS POINT TO
Check before
you instruct.
These steps come from the regulators' own public pages. They help you confirm who you are dealing with; they are not advice on any legal problem.
Step 1
Ask what they are
Solicitor, barrister, chartered legal executive or unregulated adviser: the answer decides which protections apply.
Step 2
Search the right register
Find a Solicitor for SRA-regulated solicitors and firms; the Barristers' Register for practising barristers and disciplinary findings.
Step 3
Start with Legal Choices
The regulators' Legal Choices site explains adviser types; GOV.UK and Citizens Advice also have general information.
Step 4
Complain to the firm first
The Legal Ombudsman checks you have tried to resolve a complaint with the firm before it investigates.
WHEN SERVICE GOES WRONG
The Legal Ombudsman
is free.
The Legal Ombudsman deals with service complaints, such as unexplained costs, delays or lost documents, about lawyers and firms overseen by the legal regulators. Its service is free to the public.
If the firm has not resolved a complaint within 8 weeks, the time limits are six months from the firm's final response and no more than one year from the problem, or from when you should have realised. It can order an apology, a fee refund, returned documents or compensation.
Questions
Questions on the way
What is the difference between a solicitor and a barrister?
Both are regulated lawyers. The Bar Standards Board describes barristers as trained to give specialist legal advice and represent people in courts and tribunals; solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Can anyone call themselves a lawyer?
Legal Choices says some advisers, such as paralegals, may call themselves a lawyer without being regulated by an approved regulator. 'Barrister', by contrast, is limited to people Called to the Bar.
What are reserved legal activities?
Six activities listed in section 12 of the Legal Services Act 2007: rights of audience, conduct of litigation, reserved instrument activities, probate, notarial activities and administering oaths.
How do I check a barrister is allowed to practise?
Search the Bar Standards Board's Barristers' Register, which shows practising status, contact details, services offered and any disciplinary findings.
Where do complaints about a lawyer's service go?
First to the firm. If it is not resolved within 8 weeks, or you are unhappy with the response, the Legal Ombudsman can look at it, within its time limits.
Destination
Where the facts come from
- legislation.gov.uk: Legal Services Act 2007, section 12
- Legal Choices: Types of legal advisers
- Bar Standards Board: What is a barrister
- Bar Standards Board: The Barristers' Register
- The Law Society: Find a Solicitor
- CILEx Regulation: The Legal Ombudsman (service complaints)
Updated