The Solicitors Regulation Authority is set to contact law firms who pose a risk of financial instability. The move comes as the regulatory body released the results of a Supervision Pilot which it conducted with 100 law firms of various sizes across the UK from January to September last year.

According to regulatory website Legal  Futures, all law firms deemed to present a risk of financial instability will be contacted by SRA officials by the end of the month. They are calling on firms facing financial problems to proactively contact the SRA as the organisation seeks to build trust with practitioners.

Meanwhile the Law Society Gazette reported that more than 250 law firms had ceased trading since the start of the summer, the first time since the economic downturn that law firm numbers have fallen for three months in a row.

Jomati consultant Tony Williams told the magazine that the drop was ‘significant’ and he said it could be attributed to a quiet conveyancing market and higher costs of running a personal injury practice.