The regulator’s Upholding Professional Standards 2017/18 report reveals that it received 70 complaints about sexual harassment from November 2017 to October 2018, many of which were about law firm working environments.

Of the 70 complaints, 13 related to the potential misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in relation to harassment.

The report said sexual harassment was “one of the key themes for 2017/18 … sparked by the #MeToo movement”, which saw hundreds of high-profile figures share their stories of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

In the five preceding years, the SRA received just 30 complaints about sexual harassment, The Times reports.

Anna Bradley, chair of the SRA Board, said: “The standards we set are critical to establishing and maintaining public confidence in the rule of law, the administration of justice and, of course, solicitors’ professional practice. Most solicitors and law firms do a good job, providing high-quality legal services to the public and to businesses within a robust ethical framework.

“But when things go wrong, we have to take firm and fair action to make sure that the standards we and the public expect are upheld. This report shines a light on how we uphold these standards through our enforcement activity. I am looking forward to publishing updated statistics on our enforcement work on a regular basis, so that both the profession and the public can be clear about what we do.”