“Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; he who would search for pearls must dive below.” So wrote John Dryden in 1678. And so, too, every solicitor makes minor mistakes in his day-to-day work – inconsequential errors and misjudgements. But so what, you may ask, if beneath the surface the client is getting the pearls of a first-rate job? And let us not forget that the standard is generally very high. Clients are, by and large, well served.
However, there is a sense that our new regulator and critic, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), is now a guardian of the quality of solicitors’ work and not just of the manner in which it is done. Rule 1.05 of the code of conduct states: “You must provide a good standard of service to your clients.”
