Minster Law strengthens compliance succession with appointment of Daniel Bates to route to COLP programme

Minster Law has strengthened its long-term commitment to compliance and succession planning with the appointment of Daniel Bates to its newly launched Route to Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) development programme.

The programme has been created to support the development of future compliance leaders within the firm and reflects Minster Law’s continued investment in its people and in safeguarding strong governance across the business.

The two-year, part-time Route to COLP programme will see Dan work closely with Minster Law’s Compliance Officer for Legal Practice, Stuart Hanley, while continuing in his role within the Serious Injury team. The programme is designed to provide meaningful, hands-on experience of the COLP role, alongside structured development in compliance management, regulatory framework maintenance and the proactive management of regulatory and reputational risk.

This initiative aligns with wider regulatory expectations and the increasing focus on succession planning for key compliance roles across the legal sector and also ties in with the SRA recent proposals in relation to the importance of ethics training.

Commenting on his appointment, Dan said:

“Being selected for this role is a genuinely special moment for me, and I am excited to get started. Since joining Minster, I have developed a real passion for understanding how firms like ours navigate the constant evolution of legal and regulatory change.

We operate in a sector unlike almost any other when it comes to the pace and scale of change, but I have always believed we have exactly the right people and expertise not just to manage change, but to thrive because of it.”

Stuart Hanley highlighted the importance of the programme as part of Minster Law’s broader talent strategy:

“This succession planning is a key business objective and talent priority. It supports organisational resilience and helps prepare us for future challenges and opportunities.

The SRA’s recent thematic review of Compliance Officers also reinforces the importance of these roles and highlights the need for effective succession planning. I am delighted that the current Yorkshire Rising Star has accepted this challenge and I look forward to working more closely with him.”