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Arunn Ramadoss

Director of Marketing

For years, many firms have treated risk assessments as a one-off obligation: a form to complete, file away, and revisit only when regulators ask.

But client and matter risk changes every day. Your risk assessment should change with it.

The pace of change has outgrown static compliance

New clients, new transactions, and new financial data constantly reshape a firm’s risk profile.

Yet most firms still rely on manual templates or rigid systems that capture a single moment in time. When those systems sit apart from onboarding, ID checks, or payments, they miss the context that gives risk meaning.

This is not only a technology issue. It is a compliance issue.

In the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s 2024 sectoral AML risk assessment, the regulator reported that matter-level risk assessments remain one of the most common weaknesses found during supervision and inspection. The SRA found that firms often had strong policies but applied them inconsistently or kept incomplete records.

That matches what many MLROs tell us.

 Helen Strachan, MLRO at Burnett & Reid, explained:

“The challenge was that even though we had strong policies, in practice there was inconsistency in how different individuals were judging whether something was high or low risk.”

Even diligent teams can struggle to apply complex policies consistently when they depend on static forms and manual review.

Connected intelligence changes everything

When Colette Best, former Director of AML at the SRA, joined our recent webinar, she highlighted a clear shift in expectations. The regulator wants firms to be dynamic in how they assess and respond to risk. That means firms must move from one-off reviews to continuous monitoring so their assessments evolve with every client relationship and matter stage.

That is the idea behind Legl Risk Assessment.

Risk isn’t static, and your risk management shouldn’t be either.

By connecting client, matter, and financial intelligence in one continuous workflow, firms gain a complete and living picture of risk. KYC data, source-of-funds analysis, and matter information flow into a single guided assessment. The view of risk updates automatically, and the firm’s policy applies every time with no interpretation or delay.

Helen Strachan has seen the impact:

“That Legl flags high-risk assessments instantaneously is a huge step forward for MLROs. Getting that notification lets me act fast. I’m no longer relying on human interaction to be alerted to cases I need to focus on.”

Connected intelligence in action means:

  • Automatic escalation when high-risk indicators appear.
  • Real-time monitoring for sanctions or PEP updates.
  • Firm-wide dashboards that reveal exactly where risk sits.

From compliance task to business advantage

When risk assessments become continuous, they stop being an administrative burden and start creating insight.

Firms using Legl now see:

  • Consistency: every fee-earner applies the same logic, guided by firm policy.
  • Confidence: MLROs and COLPs view risk exposure across the firm in real time.
  • Control: leaders gain the advantage of always knowing where their risk stands.

At Burnett & Reid, the results are clear:

“For lawyers, it’s the speed that has won them over. In the past it took 7–10 minutes to complete the form; now it takes 1–2.”

The process is faster for lawyers, clearer for compliance, and more strategic for the business.

Where firms go next

The SRA’s findings show that static templates and fragmented tools no longer meet expectations.
Firms need systems that evolve with their clients and capture every decision in real time. Connected intelligence delivers that evolution. It transforms compliance from a reactive obligation into a proactive, confident process.

That is what Legl Risk Assessment provides.