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Iain Miller
Iain specialises in the regulation of legal services. His work includes legal ethics, investigations, and disciplinary prosecutions as well as advice on the impact of the regulatory framework on legal businesses and those investing in them. He is the lead partner in respect of Stratify by Kingsley Napley which provides strategic advice on legal services regulation. He is General Editor of the leading textbook on legal services regulation, Cordery on Legal Services.
Iain’s experience in relation to legal services regulation dates back to 1994. Since then he has acted in many of the leading cases relating to the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales. His experience covers not only disciplinary proceedings but also, business structures, investigations, public law challenges, investment and restructuring. Iain acts for a number of large law firms in advising them on SRA related issues as well as providing advice to law firm partners.
Iain is ranked as Band 1 in Chambers & Partners Guide to the UK Legal Profession in the Professional Discipline category and ranked as Band 2 in the Administrative & Public Law category. He is also ranked in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for professional discipline. In 2013 Iain was included in the Lawyer Magazine's Hot 100.
Recent Work
- Lead Partner in acting for Dentons in disciplinary proceedings brought against them in the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal relating to allegations of AML breaches.
- Acted for Teacher Stern in disciplinary proceeding brought against them by the SRA relating to SRA Accounts Rules breaches.
- Advising private equity investors in relation to the regulatory aspects of their investments in regulated legal businesses.
- Advising law firms and individual partners in relation to investigations by the SRA in relation to alleged sexual misconduct in the workplace.
- Advising several large firms in relation to their reporting obligations to the SRA and the conduct of internal investigations.
- Drafting a lawyers’ and accountancy conduct of code for a Gulf based regulator.
- Advising a European regulator on developments in worldwide legal regulation.
- Provided expert support on the law relating to undertakings to Your Lawyers in the Supreme Court case of Harcus Sinclair LLP v Your Lawyers Limited [2021] UKSC 32.
- Acted for the Bar Standards Board in Lumsdon and others v The Legal Services Board [2015] UKSC 41 – Challenge by the Criminal Bar Association to the implementation of the Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates.
- Acted in Hemming v Westminster City Council [2015] UKSC 41 - Whether the Provision of Services Regulations precluded charging for enforcement and other costs as part of an authorisation scheme.
- Acted for the Bar Standards Board in the drafting of their revised Code of Conduct, Entity Regulation Framework and application to become a Licensing Authority for Alternative Business Structures.
- Advised on the regulatory aspects of the insolvency of Halliwells LLP, Dewey and LeBoeuf LLP, Cobbetts LLP, Manches LLP, Challinors and Davenport Lyons.
Publications
- Law firm launches consultancy to help investors enter legal market - Legal Futures, November 2024
- Proposals for tighter regulation of solicitors risk hitting investment -The TImes, November 2024
- Solicitors’ watchdog ‘missed’ £64m fraud - The Times, October 2024
- Criticism rains down on SRA but M&A controls spark worry too - Legal Futures, October 2024
- SRA’s unlimited penalty proposals slammed as “arbitrary” -The Lawyer September 2024
- Spotlight: This team wants to advise your firm - The Lawyer, June 2024
- Law Society releases climate change advice - The Law Society Gazette Magazine, April 2023
- Lawyers should “draw line” on which clients to represent, March 2023
- Ukraine crisis exposes law firms “going too far” in clients’ interests - Legal Futures, March 2022
- Do not worry about dropping Russian clients - SRA - Law Society Gazette, March 2022
- Client selection: The next frontier in the evolution of legal ethics - Law Society Gazette, March 2022
- Move fast to fix NDAs if you want to avoid a ban - Article written for The Times, September 2021
- Another nail in the coffin of solicitors’ undertakings? Article written for Legal Futures, July 2021
- 2021 Compliance conference - Mentioned in the Liverpool Law Society Magazine, July 2021
- Men behaving badly - Quoted in The Law Society Gazette with Julie Norris and Jessica Clay, June 2021
- Law firms, regulation and culture - Article written for The Law Society Gazette, June 2021
- IBA and The College of Law Australia launch online anti-harassment training for the legal profession - Mentioned in International Bar Association, April 2021
- Women deserve more clarity on workplace harassment - Article written with Julie Norris for the Times Online, March 2021
- Fit to work, unfit to face tribunal - Quoted in Times Online, January 2021
- The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new rules need work - Article written for the Times Online, May 2020.
- Solicitors warned to expect extension of price transparency rules - Quoted in Law Society Gazette, March 2019
- What amounts to sexual harassment in law firms “evolving fast” - Quoted in Legal Futures, March 2019
- Towards clarity on reporting obligations - Published in Law Society Gazette, March 2019
- Conduct Unbecoming - Quoted in Law Society Gazette, February 2019
- The Dark SIde of NDAs - Quoted in IBA, February 2019
- Law firm bullying culture in spotlight - Quoted in The Times, January 2019
- At last we are moving away from a state of limbo over NDAs - Published in The Times in January 2019 with Richard Fox
- Law firms investigated for gagging alleged victims of sexual abuse - Quoted in The Times in October 2018
- Iain's LSA 10 year anniversary blog series - Mentioned in The Times Law Diary in October 2017
- The Law Society Gazette quoted Iain in their article How to: Close a law firm in October 2017
- Iain was quoted by Law Society Gazette in their article Unpaid SDT fines on rogue solicitors top £2.6m in October 2017
- Iain and Sian Jones' article “White & Case: the shape of things to come in SDT cases?” appeared in the Law Society Gazette in September 2017
- Iain’s article“ The brave new world of price transparency and what it means for firms” appeared in The Times in September 2017
what clients and directories have said
If someone in my family needed someone I would recommend Iain; he has such a vast amount of experience and knowledge."
Chambers and Partners, 2025
Iain is well respected from an SRA perspective and he is impressive from the defence side of things."
Chambers and Partners, 2025
He's a clear leader in his field."
Chambers UK 2025 - A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession
Iain is a very good problem solver, has a really good manner with clients and is innovative in coming up with solutions."
Chambers UK 2025 - A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession
Iain Miller is one of the doyens in this area. Very knowledgeable on SRA issues. A pleasure to work with."
Legal 500, 2025
He is a class act who has great powers of judgement and good knowledge of the issues."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2021
He is just incredibly technically knowledgeable. He is also very pragmatic and adopts a very nuanced approach."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2021
hugely experienced, solicitor of choice for advising the legal regulators (SRA and BSB etc.) and other regulators. Very good judgment, unflappable and very bright."
Legal 500, 2020
an SRA guru."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2020
A standout practitioner who is highly sought after for his knowledge of legal regulatory processes."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2019
incredibly accessible, knowledgeable, thoughtful and pragmatic in his approach."
Legal 500, 2019
fabulous."
Legal 500, 2019
"He's very down-to-earth, unflappable and pragmatic."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2019
He looks for solutions rather than issues."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2019
He's one of the most knowledgeable lawyers on legal regulation and the more difficult or specialist areas."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2018
He is pragmatic, very sensible and analytical in his approach. He is always well prepared and thinks through all of the issues."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2018
Kingsley Napley LLP’s ‘star is rising this year’ with the lateral hire of Iain Miller."
Legal 500, 2017
He knows us as a client and our environment and he knows what are realistic and practical solutions for us."
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2017
fountain of all knowledge."
Chambers UK, A Clients Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2017
probably one of the top solicitors in this sphere.”
Chambers UK, A Clients Guide to the UK Legal Profession, 2017
professional societies, memberships and Appointments
- Chair of the City of London Law Society’s Professional Rules and Regulation Committee.
- General Editor, Cordery on Legal Services, Lexis Nexis, Looseleaf.
- Co-Editor, Butterworth’s Guide to the Legal Services Act 2007.
- Co-Author, Alternative Business Structures, Law Society Publications
- Member of the Editorial Board of the Law Society's Legal Compliance Bulletin
- Member of Consulting Editorial Board of LexisPSL Practice Compliance
- Past chair - Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers
- Member of Advisory Board of UCL’s Centre for Ethics and Law review of the Statutory Framework for legal services
- Member of the International Bar Association’s International Trade in Legal Services Committee and Regulation Committee.
- Member of the American Bar Association
- Member Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers
