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Legal Payments Platform

The legal payments partner
for complex transactions

FCA-regulated payment platform for UK law firms. Handle M&A, litigation, escrow, and client money with confidence. Reduce risk, save time, stay in control.

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Trustpilot
Shieldpay platform

Trusted by leading UK law firms

Addleshaw Goddard BDB Pitmans White & Case Milberg Pogust Goodhead OakNorth Avamore Thompsons Solicitors

Our Solutions

Payment solutions built for legal complexity

Client money management

Payment Account

A compliant alternative to the traditional client account. Same security and control, with automated reconciliation, real-time visibility, and significantly less admin.

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Multi-party payment distribution

Paying Agent

When a transaction involves multiple payees, we take on the complexity. Verification, fund holding, and payment execution — handled on your instruction.

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Conditional fund holding

Escrow

Funds held securely until agreed conditions are met. Quick to set up, flexible in structure, with full visibility for all parties throughout.

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A Dedicated Legal Payments Platform

How we handle legal payments:
Verify. Hold. Disburse

Shieldpay is a technology-led payments partner, built to securely and compliantly streamline the payment process with our three core platform capabilities.

Verify

Verify

Solve the complexity of compliance

We collect KYC and conduct due diligence on all parties, scaled depending on the characteristics of each transaction - so you can proceed with confidence.

Hold

Hold

Protect funds

Funds are held in safeguarded, reconcilable accounts as an alternative to traditional client accounts - with banking partners Citi and ClearBank.

Disburse

Disburse

Send payments fast

With all parties and funds verified, authorisation is easy and transparent. Release payments to single or multiple payees with a full audit trail.

Use Cases

Powering payments for legal services

Shieldpay solves the greatest payment challenges for the legal services industry - making typically painful, lengthy processes manageable and straightforward.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Holdbacks, earnouts, shareholder distributions, and completion fund management for complex M&A deals.

Litigation

Multi-claimant settlements, group litigation payouts, and conditional payments with full visibility for all parties.

Real Estate

Property completions, deposit holding, and conditional releases for residential and commercial transactions.

Construction

Milestone-based payments, retention funds, and staged releases tied to project completion events.

Managed Accounts

Ongoing client money management via FCA-regulated Payment Account (TPMA) as an alternative to client accounts.

Conveyancing

Secure fund holding with Confirmation of Payee fraud protection - reducing conveyancing fraud risk at every stage.

£18bn+

Processed Securely

We have processed over £18 billion in transactions, supporting hundreds of law firms with complex payment needs.

40+

Top 100 Law Firms

Trusted by 40+ of the UK's top 100 law firms for M&A, litigation, escrow, and client money management.

~50

Payment Specialists

Our team of regulated payment experts provides hands-on support, portal access, or API integration to match your needs.

Regulation & Security

Mitigating risk is our business

We're regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and authorised by HMRC for Trust Services, making our platform fully compliant and approved to safeguard client funds.

FCA Regulated Firm ref. 770210
HMRC Trust Services Authorised
ISO 27001 Certified
Confirmation of Payee Fraud protection
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Mitigating risk

FCA-Regulated Platform

All funds safeguarded with tier-1 banking partners

The control, compliance, and efficiency modern law firms need

As an FCA-regulated alternative to traditional client accounts, Shieldpay combines automated verification (KYC, sanctions screening), secure fund holding via tier-1 banking partners (Citi, ClearBank), and expert-led payment execution — whether you're managing M&A distributions, litigation settlements, escrow holdbacks, or ongoing client money.

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Resources

Explore expert insights from our team

Access the latest news, industry updates and insightful resources shared by the Shieldpay team, our partners and peers.

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Blog

Our blog

News, regulatory updates and expert commentary.

Read the blog
Podcast and webinars

Podcast and webinars

Shieldcast episodes and on-demand webinars.

Listen & watch
Research and guides

Research and guides

In-depth guides, whitepapers and research.

Browse guides

Case studies

Pogust Goodhead case study
Pogust Goodhead
Litigation

Case study: Pogust Goodhead

Finding a way to quickly and securely pay thousands of claimants.

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Shieldpay for M&A case study
UK Top 20 Law Firm
M&A

Case study: Shieldpay for M&A

International payee management and compliance risk.

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Ready to speak to a payments expert?

Get in touch to find out how Shieldpay can support your firm's payments on what you're working on today. Save time, reduce risk and provide enhanced experiences to your customers.

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FAQ

FAQ: Legal payments platform

Common questions about Shieldpay's legal payments platform - from regulation and compliance to how we compare with traditional client accounts.

A legal payments platform like Shieldpay is an FCA-regulated solution that helps UK law firms securely verify parties, hold funds in safeguarded accounts, and disburse payments for complex transactions like M&A, litigation, and escrow. It provides an alternative to traditional client accounts with enhanced automation, fraud protection, and compliance support.
Yes. Shieldpay Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (firm reference number 770210). All funds are held in ring-fenced, safeguarded accounts with tier-1 banking partners.
Shieldpay's Payment Account (TPMA) offers the same safeguarding and control as a traditional client account, but with automated reconciliation, enhanced fraud protection (Confirmation of Payee checks), and no annual accountant report requirement for TPMA-held funds. The regulatory burden for fund safeguarding shifts to our FCA-regulated platform while you maintain full control.
We support M&A (shareholder distributions, escrow, holdbacks), litigation settlements (multi-claimant payouts), conveyancing, escrow for property and commercial deals, and ongoing client money management via Payment Account (TPMA).
Law firms retain responsibility for AML compliance when using Shieldpay. We provide the verification infrastructure (KYC checks, sanctions screening, bank account validation) to support your obligations, but AML responsibility remains with the law firm.

Still have questions? Speak with one of our payments specialists — we're happy to walk you through how Shieldpay works for your firm.

Speak to a payments expert