Outsourced COLP Services for Law Firms

Our solicitors provide outsourced COLP services to SRA-regulated law firms across the UK. Where a firm needs external support managing the day-to-day compliance duties that sit with the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice, our solicitors can assist. We work alongside your designated COLP to help the firm meet its regulatory obligations clearly and proportionately.

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What Outsourced COLP Support Actually Involves

The SRA requires every authorised firm to designate a COLP who is personally approved as a role holder. That formal designation stays with the firm. What can be supported externally is the compliance work that role demands. For smaller practices and growing firms, managing COLP requirements alongside a full client caseload is a real pressure. MAR Legal works with firms across Manchester and throughout England and Wales, providing practical outsourced compliance officer support covering breach identification, reporting decisions, policy reviews and the records a COLP is required to maintain. The scope is agreed upfront, the fees are fixed, and the work is done by solicitors who understand how the SRA framework operates in practice.

How Our COLP Solicitors Help Law Firms

Practical outsourced COLP support across the areas that matter most to SRA-regulated firms.

Reporting Decision Support

Where a concern arises, the decision whether to report to the SRA is one of the most consequential a COLP faces. Our solicitors work through the facts with the designated COLP and help reach a properly considered, documented conclusion.

SRA Audit and Inspection Preparation

Where a firm is preparing for an SRA audit or has received notice of an inspection, our outsourced compliance officer support helps ensure records are in order, the COLP is briefed, and the firm can respond clearly to any queries.

Accounts Rules and COFA Liaison

Where a firm also needs support with COFA responsibilities, our team works alongside the Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration, helping ensure that accounts rules compliance, client money records and financial controls are properly managed.

New Firm Compliance Setup

For newly authorised firms, getting the COLP function working properly from the outset matters. Our solicitors help new practices put in place the compliance systems, breach logs and reporting processes the role requires before the SRA expects to see them.

What this means for your Firm

  • Your designated COLP has qualified solicitor support on hand
  • Compliance duties are managed without disrupting client work
  • Breach decisions are documented clearly and defensibly
  • Policy gaps are identified and addressed before they become problems
  • Fixed fees mean no billing surprises as the work progresses

When to Consider Outsourced COLP Support

  • Your COLP role is unfilled, newly appointed or changing hands
  • The firm has received an SRA query or notice of investigation
  • A breach has occurred, and the reporting decision is unclear
  • Internal compliance policies have not been reviewed for over 12 months
  • The firm is growing, and the existing compliance setup is not keeping pace
  • The firm operates as an alternative business structure requiring ongoing compliance capacity

Meet the Founder

Marium brings 22 years of experience advising law firms and regulated practices on SRA compliance, governance and regulatory risk across the UK. A Solicitor regulated by the SRA (ID: 277854) & MCIArb. she founded MAR Legal to give law firms direct access to senior compliance expertise without the cost of a traditional compliance consultancy.

Marium Razzaq - Solicitors in Manchester
Marium Razzaq
Solicitor & Director Mar Legal
MCIArb

Why Choose MAR Legal for Outsourced COLP Services

Solicitor Led Advice

All outsourced COLP work is carried out by qualified solicitors with direct experience of SRA regulation and compliance.

Clear Timescales

Delivery dates agreed at the outset and met without the need to chase.

Fixed Fee

Scope and fees are agreed upfront. No hourly billing, no unexpected costs, no need to chase for updates.

Commercial Focus

Based in Manchester, our solicitors work with law firms across the UK, with remote support available as standard.

Trusted by law firms and SRA-regulated practices across the UK for practical, solicitor-led compliance support.

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How Our Outsourced COLP Process Works

01

Initial consultation

we discuss the firm's current compliance position, size and structure, and agree what outsourced COLP support would look like in practice.

02

Scope and fee agreement

We confirm the scope of support, the reporting structure with the designated COLP, and the fixed fee. Everything is set out in writing before work begins.

03

Ongoing support

Our solicitors work alongside the COLP on an agreed basis, reviewing compliance matters, flagging risks and maintaining records proportionate to the firm's size and activity.

04

Regular reporting

We provide clear updates on the firm's compliance position, including any matters identified, assessed or resolved during the period.

Our solicitors provide outsourced COLP services as part of our wider law firm regulation support for SRA-regulated law firms across the UK. Where the firm needs help understanding its COLP and COFA obligations more generally, our COLP and COFA Support page covers the full scope. For firms wanting a structured review of their compliance position before putting external support in place, our Law Firm Compliance Audit may be the right starting point.

What Our Clients Say

CQC regulation FAQs: questions care providers ask before getting advice

Registration with the CQC is required for any person or organisation providing a regulated activity in England. The regulated activities are set out in Schedule 1 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and cover a wide range of health and social care services. Providing a regulated activity without registration is a criminal offence under section 10 of the Act, carrying a potential unlimited fine and up to 12 months imprisonment. If you are uncertain whether your activities require registration, taking advice before you start operating is the right approach.

The registration process involves identifying the correct regulated activities, demonstrating that the provider meets the fundamental standards, confirming that premises are suitable, and establishing that the registered manager meets the fit and proper person requirements. The CQC assesses applications and may raise queries before deciding whether to grant registration. Where the CQC proposes to refuse an application, it must issue a Notice of Proposal before making a final decision, giving the provider the opportunity to make representations.

CQC inspections assess providers against five key questions: is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. Each question covers specific areas that inspectors examine through records, observations, conversations with staff and service users, and assessment of governance arrangements. The rating assigned following an inspection is based on findings across all five areas and is published on the CQC website. Ratings range from Outstanding to Inadequate and carry significant reputational and operational consequences.

The CQC has a range of enforcement powers where it considers a provider is not meeting required standards. These include requirement notices specifying improvements and timeframes, warning notices where a criminal offence has occurred, urgent cancellation of registration where there is a serious risk to service users, and prosecution for criminal offences. Ratings are published publicly, so enforcement action also carries a reputational dimension alongside the direct regulatory consequences. The CQC typically imposes tight deadlines for responses to enforcement action.

A Notice of Proposal is the CQC's formal notification that it is considering a specific regulatory action, such as refusing or cancelling registration or imposing conditions. Providers have 28 days to make written representations in response. The representations are an important opportunity to address the CQC's concerns before any final decision is made. Where a final decision is made and a provider disagrees with it, an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Care Standards) is available as a further step.

Yes. Following an inspection, providers can submit a factual accuracy challenge to correct factual errors in the report before it is published. This is a time-limited process, and the deadline is set by the CQC in the covering correspondence. Where a rating does not accurately reflect the provider's position, a ratings review may be available in certain circumstances. It depends on the grounds available and the nature of the rating decision. Taking advice on whether a challenge is viable before the deadline passes is the more effective approach.

A registered manager is an individual registered with the CQC who is responsible for the day-to-day management of a regulated service. Many registered activities require both a registered provider and a registered manager. The registered manager must meet the fit and proper person requirements set out in the regulations and is personally accountable to the CQC for the management of the service. Where concerns arise about a registered manager, the CQC can act against them individually as well as against the registered provider.

MAR Legal provides advisory and documentation support on CQC regulatory matters. Where a matter involves reserved legal activities or formal representation before the First-tier Tribunal, we work alongside appropriately regulated professionals.