Since the invasion of Ukraine, there has been significant public concern about SLAPPs, with complaints that wealthy individuals are using solicitors to silence legitimate criticism. For instance, by threatening journalists with defamation proceedings even if the claim has no merit.

The SRA visited 25 law firms, including those who work on the claimant and defendant side. Through interviews and file reviews, it assessed how well firms understand and manage the risks around abusive litigation.

Many solicitors demonstrated they had a good understanding of the risks in this area and the SRA found no evidence of the firms it reviewed abusing the litigation process.

There were, however, areas where firms needed to do better. Areas of concern included some solicitors not being aware of the SRA’s latest guidance on conduct in disputes, lack of policies and procedures for this work or specific training for fee earners on how to conduct fair and appropriate litigation. These all increase the risk of firms falling short of expected standards.

It also found too many solicitors had a poor understanding of their professional obligations to report potential misconduct by others. It unearthed three cases where a firm had identified potential abusive litigation by another firm but had not reported it.

Paul Philip, SRA chief executive, said: “SLAPPs are a threat to free speech and the rule of the law. Solicitors should act fearlessly in their client’s interest when bringing legitimate claims. They are, however, officers of the court. They must act with integrity and should never abuse the litigation process. This damages our society and public trust in the profession.

“Most solicitors take their duties seriously. Yet this review shows that some firms need to do more. Firms need to be sharply focused on meeting the high standards we all expect. We will be carrying out a further review of firms in this area, while redoubling our efforts to make sure our message is getting through.”