SaaS Development for UK LegalTech Companies — SRA compliance Built In

LPP-Aware Multi-Tenant Architecture

Legal SaaS serving multiple law firms must implement Legal Professional Privilege awareness at the platform level — privilege status must be tracked at document and communication level, SAR responses must screen for LPP before disclosure, and cross-tenant LPP leakage must be architecturally impossible (not just application-enforced).

AML Compliance as SaaS Service Feature

Law firm SaaS must support AML obligations as a first-class feature: CDD workflow for new clients, EDD triggers for high-risk matters, MLRO escalation capability, sanctions screening integration, and 5-year AML record retention. These features must be per-tenant (each law firm has their own MLRO and compliance workflow).

UK GDPR for Legal Client Data

Legal SaaS processes highly sensitive data — legal advice, financial information, and personal details of parties to matters. UK GDPR requires: legitimate interest assessment for processing client data, special consideration for data subject access requests (LPP screening), and careful retention policies balancing GDPR minimisation against SRA regulatory retention requirements (6–15 years for different matter types).

Time Recording and Billing Integration

Legal SaaS typically integrates with time recording and billing: Elite, Aderant, or custom billing systems. VAT implications for legal services are complex (exempt, standard-rated, and zero-rated services). Stripe billing for SaaS subscriptions must handle UK VAT correctly for law firm clients.

UK LegalTech SRA compliance

Legal Professional Privilege

AML (MLRs 2017)

UK GDPR