Legal Accounts Investigator

Requirements of the role

We are looking for a permanent Legal Accounts Investigator to join us. Internally, this role is known as “Financial Investigator”.

About the team

We regulate solicitors and law firms in England and Wales and have statutory power to close down a firm when it is in the public interest. This is known as an intervention.

Most law firms hold money on behalf of their clients. When we intervene into a firm, we take possession of any money the firm holds and its accounting records. We then investigate who that money belongs to so that we can return it to them.

We do this by inspecting the firm’s accounting records. Unfortunately, these are often incomplete and unreliable, and in some cases may have been tainted by the misrepresentation or dishonesty of the intervened solicitor. Therefore, we also have to look for any other information that might help us establish who the money belongs to.

You can find out more about our interventions work here:

https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/decision-making/guidance/consumer-money-intervene.page

About the role of Legal Accounts Investigator

As a Legal Accounts Investigator, you will investigate the money taken into our possession following an intervention. You will have your own case holding, but also will work collaboratively with senior team members to assist them with more complex cases.

You will carry out extensive investigations into the firm’s accounting records. You will draft written reports in accordance with our regulatory standards, making clear recommendations as to who is entitled to the money and how it should be distributed. You will be prepared to justify your recommendations to our formal decision makers and adjudicators.

You may attend on site when we effect an intervention to identify and analyse relevant financial information, including speaking to staff and clients of the intervened firm. You will work alongside internal colleagues and our panel solicitors – known as agents.

This role requires excellent time and workload management, along with strong interpersonal skills and a keen eye for detail.

The role will require occasional short notice travel and the occasional overnight stay.

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