Professional discipline, regulation and conduct

Professional regulatory bodies have a wide range of issues and challenges facing them, and attract scrutiny from many stakeholders. They also have a important responsibility to the public to ensure that professionals are fit to practise and meet professional standards.

Public accountability is key, and regulators must maintain high standards within the professions they regulate and make fair, lawful decisions. Failing to do so may leave them open to criticism and legal challenge.

As well as maintaining standards within professions, regulators also face pressure to ensure they keep costs to a minimum, and look for value for money for public funds.

Our service

Working with us means that professional regulators benefit from our wide experience of different professional bodies. We have leading lawyers in this field and are often involved in key cases. We aim to work collaboratively with in-house legal teams and our services include:

• investigating and advising on allegations and complaints against professionals
• providing lawyers to join in-house teams on secondments
• acting as advocates in disciplinary and conduct hearings
• advising on the exercise of public duties
• drafting legislation for regulators
• providing training for Council and panel members
• sitting as legal advisers/assessors
• dealing with the media

Our experience

We have long-standing experience working with professional regulators, and we are practised in investigating “fitness to practise” allegations, appearing at tribunals, conducting appeals and judicial reviews, interpreting legislation, advising on the discharge of statutory functions and drafting rules and procedures. Our lawyers provide a high quality service because they understand the regulatory context and the pressures professional regulators face.

We also advise professional regulatory bodies on the separation of representative and regulatory functions, which creates modern, lawful regulators who have the benefit of increased public trust.

Through the legal and non-legal training we provide to members, in-house legal teams, case workers and investigators, regulators and their decision makers can more easily make fair, lawful decisions, through following procedures and rules correctly.