Jessica Clay

Jessica is a partner in the legal services regulatory team. Jessica has a substantial practice advising law firms, including magic circle, global and boutique law firms, as well as partners and others working within firms and lawyers working in-house. Jessica also advises alternative legal services providers. She advises on a range of SRA-related matters, including authorisation and changes to business structures, reporting obligations, compliance and ethical standards, with a focus on matters relating to counter-inclusive behaviours and how these impact law firm culture. Jessica has recently advised firms and individuals in respect of allegations relating to AML and counter-inclusive conduct, including sexual misconduct, which are being investigated by the SRA.

Jessica worked for a legal services regulator in the General Counsel team and provided advice to colleagues handling complex disciplinary cases, and therefore understands first-hand, how allegations are considered and on what basis decisions are made. This provides a unique and valuable insight to her clients, enabling her to better understand the full range of regulatory outcomes and the ones more likely to be imposed, as well as thinking of other creative solutions leading to the resolution of cases. Jessica is known for having an eagle eye for detail but never losing sight of the bigger picture for her clients. She will consider all the options available and will seek to obtain the best outcomes she can for clients, at the earliest possible opportunity.

Jessica regularly advises regulators in the legal sector and beyond, where she provides policy and strategy, regulatory reform, governance and litigation advice and advises on extensive drafting projects, as well as delivering training on focus areas.

Jessica’s early legal regulatory career was spent in private practice, before moving in-house, first at the Legal Services Board (LSB) and then at the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Jessica joined Kingsley Napley in July 2019. Having worked both in private practice and in-house, gaining experience both in prosecution and defence, ensures that she is ideally placed to advise regulated professionals on how a regulator may view alleged conduct, what action may follow, and how best to defend any allegation.

As a recognised expert in her field, Jessica regularly speaks at events and on panels, including for The Law Society, IP Inclusive, LawCare and at our Spotlight Thought Leadership Series, as well as writing in journals and other publications. She is Deputy Editor of the leading textbook on legal services regulation, Cordery on Legal Services and has recently been appointed as the Diversity and Inclusion Officer to the Regulation of Lawyer's Compliance Committee for the International Bar Association.

What clients and directories say

She recognises the conflicts between our commercial priorities and SRA regulation and can guide us through that tricky path."

Chambers and Partners, 2025

Her drafting is excellent, her advice sage and commercial and her approach is highly commercial and always on point."

Chambers and Partners, 2025

She is pragmatic, knowledgeable, inquisitive and so easy to work with."

Chambers and Partners, 2025

She is pragmatic, knowledgeable, inquisitive and so easy to work with."

Chambers UK 2025 - A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession

Jessica Clay - technical expertise, sound client care and tactical acumen at a level that few others match anywhere, let alone in such a niche area.

Legal 500 UK 2025

I worked with Julie Norris and Jessica Clay. I have worked in the legal industry for 19 years and I would rate them as the best team I have worked with in terms of human intelligence and strategy. Compassion and emotional intelligence are a much under-used quality in the profession and they both have it in abundance.

Legal 500 UK 2022

An effective team player who role models the combination of intellectual rigour and speed of delivery which clients need in this area of law.”

A client

I always knew if I instructed Jessica to do something, it would be done thoroughly, to a high standard and with thought”

A client

Recent work

• Advising an international law firm in respect of allegations of serious sexual misconduct, including the commissioning of an independent investigation to look into the allegations made.
• Advising a law firm LLP as to its regulatory obligations in respect of the SRA and preparing an initial notification to the SRA and supporting the firm in its cooperation with its regulator in respect of any ensuing investigation.
• Acting as an international law firm’s go-to regulatory adviser on all SRA regulatory matters, as well as the firm’s on-going compliance with its regulatory obligations. This includes advising on queries relating to SRA authorisation and corporate structures from a regulatory standpoint and any other queries it has relating to its regulatory obligations. Many of these queries can be urgent and of major significance to the firm’s compliance with its SRA obligations.
• Advising a law firm partner in respect of allegations of inappropriate conduct made against them.
• Advising a law firm partner in respect of allegations made against them relating to breaches of anti-money laundering regulations and associated firm policies.
• Advising a law firm partner in respect of allegations (including bullying, discrimination, victimisation and detrimental treatment) made against them.
• Designing and running bespoke training sessions for law firms to highlight best-practice in the area of legal services regulation and specifically, ethical obligations and law firm culture.
• Advising a regulator on a review of its disciplinary scheme and drafting new regulations.
• Advising legal services regulators on governance issues, their statutory powers and other ad-hoc issues arising.

Professional societies and memberships

• Law Society of England and Wales
• Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL)
• Association of Partnership Practitioners (APP)
• City of London Solicitors’ Company
• International Bar Association (IBA)
• American Bar Association (ABA)
• Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL)

Articles and publications

• Managing risk in a changing climate, Modern Law Magazine, December 2024
• City Firm boosts NQ pay as sector defies recession, The Law Society, February 2024
• Navigating new frontiers in law firm risk management, Solicitors Journal, January 2024
• The Global Rise of AI: opportunities and challenges - The Law Society's Legal Compliance Magazine October 2023 Edition, October 2023
• Legal ethics meets AI – how firms should chart a path - Legal Futures, June 2023
• Law firms and preventing sexual harassment in the workplace - Solicitors Journal, May 2023
• Workplace bullying in law firms – a new frontier? - Solicitors Journal, May 2023
• Fair treatment of colleagues: what you need to know about the SRA’s updated Codes of Conduct - Law.com article, April 2023
• The way that you do it - The Law Society, March 2023
• SRA guidance on the UK sanctions regime – Solicitors Journal, February 2023
• Witnessing signatures: solicitor struck off for false claim - The Law Society, January 2023
• One for all: SRA Regulations for Staff - Solicitors Journal, December 2022
• Culture matters: a new era for law firm risk management, Lexology, November 2022
• Risk Management in Law Firms: Mitigate Risk and Enhance Firm Success – Globe Law and Business published book (Chapter 16 – Culture matters – a new era for law firm risk management), November 2022
• Practising in the EU - Law Society Gazette, May 2022
• The boundaries between a solicitor’s private life and the practice of their profession – Entertainment Law Review, March 2022
• Doing business in the EU - July 2021
• Prepare for Regulator Scrutiny of Law Firm Culture on Diversity - July 2021
• Ethical imperatives - June 2021
• Preventing solicitor burn-out: more than ‘just an HR issue’ - May 2021
• A review of the SRA's Upholding Professional Standards Report 2018/19 - March 2021
• No strike-off for dishonesty: A case law review of exceptional circumstances - February 2021
• Post-Beckwith – where to now for sexual misconduct cases? - January 2021
• The use of artificial intelligence: interesting technological developments in the legal and accountancy sectors - December 2020
• Technology in the accountancy and legal sectors – what are the regulators doing? The long read… - December 2020
• The SRA Standards and Regulations – a year on - November 2020
• Prepare for Regulator Scrutiny of Law Firm Culture on Diversity  - August 2020 Law.Com publication.
• The role of managers in promoting a good working culture within law firms (15 April 2020); The importance of wellbeing in promoting a good law firm culture (29 April 2020); The importance of equality, diversity and inclusion in promoting a good working culture - ARK Blog series
• Fixed penalty notice for breach of lockdown: notifying the SRA, 27 April 2020,  Law Society Gazette
• How to maintain regulatory obligations while working remotely, 20 March 2020, article written for Legal Week
• The UK's New Regulatory Code Where Firms Carry the Can - November 2019 Law.Com publication
• Firms will need to put legal ethics at the heart of their business, 21 November 2019, article written for the Times
• Responsible for scoping the firm’s Standards and Regulations (StaRs) blog series (references to which featured in The Times) and co-authored the following blogs in that series:
  • Reach for the StaRs – 22 October 2019
  • Understanding the new SRA Principles and Codes: the long read – 24 October 2019
  •  Reporting Concerns: understanding your obligations – 5 November 2019
• Free and Easy?, October 2019, The Law Society, 
• What will the StaRs mean for you?, 15 October 2019, ARK