DCB Legal issue thousands of claims monthly, suggesting an annual volume well into the many tens of thousands—raising serious questions about whether a single solicitor like Mr Croot could lawfully and practically oversee and sign each one.
DCB Legal is one of only three County Court “Super Users”, meaning they have privileged access to bulk claim issuance via the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC). They state on their website that they issue “thousands of claims monthly”, which conservatively implies at least 24,000–36,000 annually, though anecdotal evidence and industry estimates suggest the figure may be well over 100,000 per year.
The
Mazur v CRS LLP ruling reaffirmed that “conduct of litigation” under the Legal Services Act 2007 must be performed by a regulated person with appropriate authorisation. This includes signing and submitting claim forms, which are considered reserved legal activities.
Mr Croot is one of only four regulated solicitors overseeing litigation at DCB Legal, it raises a procedural red flag. Can one solicitor realistically sign and submit tens of thousands of claims annually? Can only four solicitors even do so? If not, who else is conducting litigation—and are they authorised?
Even if we assume DCB Legal issues a modest 25,000 claims per year, and they employ only four SRA-regulated solicitors, that equates to 6,250 claims per solicitor annually—or ~24 claims per working day. But this raw math ignores the actual scope of “conduct of litigation”, which includes far more than just signing claim forms. Under the Legal Services Act 2007 and confirmed in
Mazur v CRS LLP, conduct of litigation encompasses the following reserved activities that a solicitor must oversee:
• Reviewing particulars of claim for accuracy and compliance with CPR
• Ensuring pre-action protocol compliance, especially for consumer claims
• Signing and submitting claim forms—a reserved legal activity
• Responding to court directions and correspondence
• Supervising paralegals and admin staff involved in litigation prep
• Managing hearings, adjournments, and enforcement proceedings
• Handling procedural irregularities, strike-outs, and defence rebuttals
Even in a high-efficiency litigation firm, a solicitor might realistically handle 5–10 claims per day with proper oversight. Anything beyond that risks rubber-stamping, lack of supervision, or unauthorised delegation.
At 24 claims/day, each solicitor would need to, sign and submit claims at industrial speed, skip meaningful review or supervision, thereby breaching SRA Principles on integrity, competence, and supervision.
This workload is not just implausible—it’s procedurally incompatible with lawful conduct of litigation. If unregulated staff are preparing or submitting claims, DCB Legal may be systemically breaching the Legal Services Act. The firm risks SRA enforcement for unauthorised litigation conduct.
So, even at only 25,000 claims/year, the workload per solicitor exceeds lawful capacity. Given the scope of conduct of litigation confirmed in
Mazur, it is not credible that four solicitors can personally oversee, sign, and submit this volume without breaching reserved activity rules. This demands urgent SRA investigation into systemic unauthorised litigation conduct.
Anyone care to submit the question to the SRA?
