Welcome to the inaugural edition of Professional Opinion by RPC, our client publication for the in-house teams at professional services firms.
This edition focuses on issues relevant to our audit and accounting firm clients. The landscape for firms in this sector continues to evolve at pace: regulators are reshaping audit enforcement procedures, auditors are facing growing expectations around forward‑looking judgements, HMRC is increasingly deploying criminal powers and production orders against professional advisers, and businesses are grappling with opportunities, risks, and regulator opinion on the use of generative and agentic AI in their engagements.
As many professional services firms will recognise from experience, the litigation burden in the sector is also rising. Data from Solomonic this week has confirmed that while the overall number of new claims in the High Court of England & Wales in Q2 2026 has dipped, claims in the Professional Services sector has seen the most dramatic increase, with the number of claims up 24% year-on-year. In relation to those claims alleging professional negligence, RPC has defended more than any other firm. We are grateful to our clients for trusting us with those instructions and are proud to be supporting the sector with those important cases.
Our work with our professional services clients spans far beyond our defence and contentious regulatory work, into broader aspects of our clients' businesses. In Professional Opinion we have collated insights from a range of topics that we hope will resonate with you.
We have also included a menu of training sessions which we would be delighted to deliver to you and your teams: if you would like to arrange any training, or discuss any of the matters raised in this publication or in general, please get in touch.
Charlotte Henschen Partner and Professional Practices Sector Lead
Charlotte Henschen Professional Practices Sector Lead
Disclaimer The information in this publication is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. We attempt to ensure that the content is current as of the date of publication but we do not guarantee that it remains up to date. You should seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content.