This page details the solicitors' code of conduct in its various forms - the current SRA Handbook, the previous Code of Conduct and the Guide Online which was before that.

Current: 

• SRA Handbook replaced the Code of Conduct on 6 October 2011. It is updated online periodically which the SRA term "versions".  To view the current Code of Conduct within the SRA Handbook, visit http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code/content.page

• The SRA are using the term "version" for each update to the online version of the SRA Handbook, whether substantive or minor (multiple updates are issued each year). Each update is accompanied by ‘release notes' listing the individual changes for each version since the Handbook’s introduction in October 2011 – these can be found on the SRA website Handbook release notes page

• The online version numbers are completely separate from print editions, which are updated far less frequently.  The SRA advise that the online version is the one that should be used to ensure search results are up to date

• In order to track changes between printed editions, the Law Society Library is printing the release notes and keeping them so they have a full printed record for future enquiries. There is a facility on the SRA website to look at old versions of the SRA Handbook contents. Go to the For solicitors tab, SRA handbook tab, choose the section you want from the menu. The current version will appear under a Content tab, next to which you can see a History tab to facilitate viewing of previous versions.  [Law Society Library]

Historical:

• The various versions of the Code of Conduct going back to 1^st July 2007 are available on the SRA website: http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/change-tracker/code-of-conduct/code-of-conduct.page

• Divided by chapter, so getting the text of the whole thing at a specific date is difficult

• Before 1^st July 2007 the various amendments are not available online - this was called the Guide Online, which was the online version to the Guide to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors (last published in hard copy in 1999). The best source for this information is the Law Society library. The staff there can find the version closest to your required date, and supply you with a copy of it, albeit at a charge. The Law Society library has also printed off a copy of the Guide Online as it stood on 30 June 2007, and spiral bound copies can be purchased from the library (Note: the Guide Online is not accessible via web-archiving sites such as the Internet Archive: Wayback Machine)

• Prior to 1960 all the Law Society published regarding conduct was the various Solicitors Acts at various states of amendment. The first proper book about solicitors' conduct was published by the Law Society in 1960 and it was called "A Guide to Professional Conduct". The next edition was published in 1974 under the same title. The next was published in 1986 under the title "Professional Conduct of Solicitors". It changed title in 1990 to the "Guide to the Professional Conduct of Solicitors", of which the subsequent editions were published in 1993, 1996 and finally in 1999. These were supplemented by bulletins produced between 1988 and 1998.