The Solicitors Regulatory Authority has confirm that its ongoing investigation into the parent company of Butterworth’s Solicitors PM Law Ltd that closed without warning in February, involves a sophisticated suspected fraud, involving the improper removal and misuse of around £39.5 million of client funds.
The intervention into PM Law is one of the largest and most complex ever undertaken by the regulator. The PM Law group was made up of 11 companies, 25 offices and more than 30 trading names spread across Yorkshire, Cumbria, Berkshire, Derbyshire and London.
The SRA are continuing to contact and support thousands of former clients of PM Law and it’s businesses across Cumbria and the UK impacted by the firm's sudden closure.
As of 17 April 2026, support given so far includes:
92 claims, totalling £9.31 million, have been paid to former clients from the SRA Compensation Fund
a further £6.8 million has been paid out from money held within the firm at the time we intervened
25,000 emails or letters have been sent to people identified from the seized files as having live matters
17,000 enquiries have been dealt with
9,300 live files have been returned to clients (with a further 20,000 transferred in bulk to insurer clients).
The SRA are continuing to handle hundreds of further claims to its compensation fund. The total value of these potential claims to-date, including those already paid out, is an estimated £21.52m. This figure may increase further if, and when, more applications come forward.
The regulator has introduced a prioritisation schedule for processing applications to the fund, this applies to claims linked to both PM Law and any wider applications relating to other law firms. Under the schedule the order in which claims are dealt with will be based on the risk of harm faced by those making them. This ordering will not impact the likelihood of whether any individual claim is successful when considered.
The SRA Compensation Fund exists to provide safeguards to members of the public who have lost money when a law firm has closed. It is vital tool to providing confidence in legal services by ensuring the public are protected in the unlikely event that their law firm unexpectedly closes.
Paul Hastings, SRA Director of Client Protection said: 'We are continuing to do all we can to support former clients of PM Law, including by reuniting them with their money or files.
'Some of those affected were in the process of buying or selling a home, facing the risk of collapsed moves, or losing their deposits. Others were dealing with delayed probate matters, often while managing bereavement and outstanding estate administration.
'Many of the former clients faced significant upheaval at a stressful time, so we have been determined to provide as much support as possible.'
To help support former clients we have moved extra staff into our compensation fund team. Our intervention agents also continue to work round-the-clock, including on weekends, to handle client queries.
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