You’ve got a brilliant paralegal with 15 years’ experience. They know the work better than most solicitors you’ve ever met. So if something goes wrong on a matter they’re running, it’s on them, right?
Wrong. And the SRA has just made that clearer than ever.
The SRA published an updated version of its Effective Supervision Guidance on 12 June 2026, and it’s required reading for anyone who supervises people delivering legal services, whether that’s trainees, paralegals, legal executives, or anyone else on your team.
What prompted the update?
The big trigger was a Court of Appeal decision in March 2026 (known as the Mazur case), which confirmed that unauthorised individuals (paralegals, legal executives, and others without a practising certificate) can lawfully carry out tasks that fall within the conduct of litigation, provided they do so on behalf of and under the direction of an authorised person like a solicitor.
That sounds like good news for resourcing. And in many ways, it is. But the Court was equally clear on the flip side: it is the solicitor who remains responsible. The experience or seniority of the person doing the work doesn’t change that.
So what does good supervision actually look like?
The guidance stresses that there’s no single model and that what is appropriate depends on the risk involved, the nature of the work, and the experience of the person doing it. A new trainee drafting their first lease needs a very different level of oversight to a seasoned paralegal handling routine conveyancing.
What the SRA won’t accept is supervision that exists on paper but not in practice. Simply having a supervisory structure in place isn’t enough. The guidance makes clear that supervisors need genuine, regular oversight of the work being done, not just a name on an organisational chart.
A few things worth flagging specifically:
- Span of supervision matters. If you’re supervising ten people while also running your own caseload, the SRA will want to know how that’s actually working.
- Remote and hybrid working doesn’t change the rules. The same standards apply whether your team is in the office or spread across kitchen tables.
- AI is now explicitly on the radar. The updated guidance includes a new section on AI-assisted work, making clear that outputs generated with AI must still be reviewed, checked and signed off by an authorised individual. AI doesn’t transfer accountability, it just adds another layer to the checking process.
Why does this matter now?
The SRA has shown it will take enforcement action for supervision failures even where no client has suffered direct harm. Two recent case studies in the guidance ended with firms before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, one was fined £15,000, the other, £30,000.
The message is simple: delegation is fine, but responsibility isn’t delegable. If your name is on the matter, the standard of the work is on you.
If you’d like to discuss what the updated guidance means for your firm’s supervision arrangements, or you want to train your supervisors, get in touch with our team.
