Who do we work with?
The solicitors we introduce clients to are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and have experience of financial services regulatory work, including questions about the perimeter, financial promotions and authorisation. They are independent of us. They practise in their own firms under their own professional obligations, and we do not employ them or direct their work.
We do not name the solicitors on this website. When an introduction makes sense, we tell you who we propose to introduce you to so that you can decide whether to go ahead. You can check any solicitor or law firm through the SRA or through the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor service.
Whose advice is it?
The solicitor’s. We do not give legal advice, and we do not tell a solicitor what to conclude. A written opinion is the solicitor’s own view of your position, given under their professional obligations to you as their client. It may conclude that your activities are outside the perimeter, that they are inside it or that the answer depends on changes to your model. Whatever it says, the opinion is theirs.
How does an introduction work?
An introduction usually follows a call with us in which we understand what you do and how you market it.
- We pass your details and a summary of your question to the solicitor so they can contact you.
- The solicitor’s first scoping call is not charged and carries no obligation. It lets them understand your question and explain what an opinion would involve.
- If you decide to go ahead, the solicitor quotes before any work starts.
- You instruct the solicitor directly and pay them directly. Your relationship is with them, on their own terms of engagement.
You can decide at any point not to go ahead. How written opinions work
Do we receive a referral fee?
Yes. The firms we introduce clients to, including solicitors, pay us an introduction fee, and we say so openly. The SRA’s rules require solicitors to make sure clients are told about any financial or other interest an introducer has in referring them, so the solicitor must also make sure you know about any referral fee arrangement with us. If you have questions about it, you can ask either of us. How we are paid
How is your information kept confidential?
Everything you tell us is 100% confidential. We share it with the solicitors and specialists we work with so they can help with your question, and it will not be shared with unrelated third parties. We handle personal data in line with our privacy notice.
One point is worth knowing. We are not lawyers, so your conversations with us are unlikely to be covered by legal professional privilege. Communications with a solicitor for the purpose of getting legal advice usually are. If your question is sensitive, for example because the FCA has been in touch, you may prefer to give us only an outline and keep the detail for the solicitor.
What if you are inside the perimeter?
If a solicitor’s opinion finds that you are inside the perimeter, or that is already clear, we can introduce you to specialists who help with direct authorisation, appointed representative arrangements or section 21 approval of promotions. The specialist’s fees are agreed between you and them. Your options if you are inside the perimeter