The duty in context
Cooperate openly with regulators profession
The lawyer must deal with regulators, ombudsmen and oversight bodies openly, honestly and in a timely way, respond fully to proper requests, and permit inspection of records.
How the codes express this duty
E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 7.3; CCS 7.4 strong 198 cases
7.3 You cooperate with the SRA, other regulators, ombudsmen, and those bodies with a role overseeing and supervising the delivery of, or investigating concerns in relation to, legal services. 7.4 You respond promptly to the SRA and: (a) provide full and accurate explanations, information and documents in response to any request or requirement; and (b) ensure that relevant information which is held by you ... is available for inspection by the SRA.
SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook CD9; rC64; rC70; rC71 strong 39 cases
CD9 You must be open and co-operative with your regulators. rC64 You must: .1 promptly provide all such information to the Bar Standards Board as it may, for the purpose of its regulatory functions, from time to time require of you, and notify it of any material changes to that information; rC70 You must permit the Bar Council, or the Bar Standards Board ... reasonable access, on request, to inspect:
BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 P.9; R.13.1(a); R.13.2 strong
Attorneys-at-law shall deal with their regulators in an open, timely and cooperative manner... shall co-operate with the Council by responding to proper and reasonable requests for information in an open, honest and timely manner
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 43.1 strong 18 cases
Subject only to his or her duty to the client, a solicitor must be timely, open, and frank in his or her dealings with a regulatory authority.
Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules no clear equivalent
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch6 — Legal Services Regulatory Authority; Law Society of Ireland strong 6 cases
A solicitor should reply promptly and, in any event, within the time permitted, to correspondence received from the LSRA... A solicitor should attend meetings of the LSRA if requested to do so, unless excused beforehand... A solicitor should reply promptly to correspondence from the Regulation Department of the Law Society.
Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗
IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 2.20; Rule 2.3(i) strong 6 cases
It is the duty of Barristers to cooperate with any such investigation in a timely manner whether by way of furnishing comment or information or by attending before the Council and/or the PPC ... and/or the Appeal Panel when asked to do so. Failure to comply with this duty of co-operation shall be professional misconduct and/or a breach of this Code.
Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics no clear equivalent
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code P.9; R.12.1 a) strong
Members must deal with their regulators in an open, timely and cooperative manner... All members must: a) co-operate with the Law Society by responding to proper and reasonable requests for information in an open, honest and timely manner.
Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 7.1-1 strong
A lawyer shall reply promptly and completely to any communication from the Law Society in which a response is requested.
Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗
BC Lawyers BC Code r 7.1-1 strong 4 cases
A lawyer must (a) reply promptly and completely to any communication from the Society; (b) provide documents as required to the Law Society; (c) not improperly obstruct or delay Law Society investigations, audits and inquiries; (d) cooperate with Law Society investigations, audits and inquiries involving the lawyer or a member of the lawyer's firm;
Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 10.14 strong
A lawyer must— (a) respond to inquiries from the Law Society respectfully and in a timely manner; and (b) act in a way that does not obstruct or hinder the regulatory functions of the Law Society.
Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗
SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct B1.16; B1.17 strong 14 cases
B1.16: Duty to Co-operate with the Society — Practice rule imposing duty to Co-operate with the Society. B1.17: Duty to Co-operate with the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (the 'Commission') — Practice rule on duty to co-operate with the SLCC.
Law Society of Scotland — Practice Rules 2011, Rule B1 (Standards of Conduct) · 2011 · archived copy · official source ↗
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 no clear equivalent
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 6.04 strong
A solicitor is obliged to reply fully and promptly to correspondence from a client or former client or on their behalf, and to inquiries from the Law Society or other competent authority.
Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 4.7 strong
any barrister or pupil must respond promptly to any request from the Bar Council or the Discipline Committee for comments or information on the matter whether it relates to him or to another barrister or pupil.
Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗
Cases dealing with this duty
280 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern
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Jonathan Charles Lewis
Breaches, Failures, Others, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Anna Louise Butcher
Criminal Convictions, Failures
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Mark Pearson Ford
Breaches, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Mark John Linfield
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Others
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Ogunniyi & Adhikari
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Louis Stanley Spragg
Breaches, Failures, Others
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Laura Catherine Holloway
Breaches, Failures
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Francis Ynong Toh CHAI
Guilty of professional misconduct on 5 charges.
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Tsalidis, Charles Kiriakos
Professional Misconduct 1. Failure to comply with Section 660 Notice of the Legal Profession Act 2004 (x4) 2. Breach of ADT Orders Unsatisfactory Professional Conduct 1. Failure to respond to correspondence from Counsel…
Conditions on Practising Certificate Costs Fine Reprimand $12,000.00 Proceedings Instituted View decision -
Thomas Crampton
Breaches, Failures, Others
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Toper Hassan
Failures, Others
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B Ellis Dokubo
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules, Others
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Kimberley Bridge & John Charles McNabb & Tracy Stansfield & Nicola Roach
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules, Others
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Katherine MA Ryan
In the matter of Katherine MA Ryan, a solicitor formerly practising under the style and title of Ryan & Company at 42 Woodley Park, Kilmacud, Dublin 14, and in the matter of the Solicitors Acts 1954-2008 [6970/DT35/10; …
strike_off View decision -
Kim, Jinhi
1. Practice in breach of condition in Practising Certificate 2. Breach of undertaking to Law Society of NSW 3. Failure to respond to correspondence from the Law Society of NSW — Professional Misconduct
Additional Orders made by the Tribunal (see Tribunal decision) Costs Fine Reprimand $5,000.00 Proceedings Instituted View decision -
Anwaar Ul Haq & Sridevi Veldandi
Breaches, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Andrew Kennedy Horsey
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Z H Butt & S Iqbal
Breaches, Failures, Others, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Michael Edward French
Breaches, Client Money, Criminal Convictions, Failures, Others, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Preeti King
Breaches, Criminal Convictions, Failures, Others
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Ian Thomas Hall & HALL & CO
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Others, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Boon Low
Breaches, Failures
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David Rudolph Heinrich
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Others
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Shirley Lewald
Others
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Asif Akbar Swati
Breaches, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.