Solicitors

A solicitor who loaned between £80,000 and £100,000 from the firm’s client account to a client claiming to be an undercover policeman has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal said it was “possible” that she had been deceived by the client.

A Senior Crown Prosecutor who put in £5,800 worth of false travel expenses to help pay off his son’s university debt has been jailed for six months. He pleaded guilty to one count of fraud after submitting 62 bogus claims for journeys from his home address in Devon to Bristol Crown Court over six months.

The Legal Services Consumer Panel has fired a warning shot across the bows of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, saying it needs to put more consumer protections in place before pressing ahead with its controversial plan to allow solicitors to practise from unregulated firms next year.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off a solicitor who took £112,000 of historic client balances, having twice rejected agreements between him and the Solicitors Regulation Authority that he would instead just remove himself from the roll. He told his fellow director that he was transferring the funds to office account because “we needed the monies”.

A solicitor who helped himself to client money while carrying out what he claimed was a “tidying-up” exercise of historic client account balances has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal decided that his actions showed a “lack of moral soundness, a lack of rectitude and no adherence to an ethical code”.

A solicitor has been struck off after he bought his home and his firm’s office for £1.3m but dishonestly declared he had paid only £265,000 altogether, in order to avoid paying over £50,000 in stamp duty land tax. He also attempted to dissuade the HMRC from making fines it issued to him public so as not to alert the SRA.

US law firm White & Case has overhauled the way it deals with conflicts of interest in the wake of the investigation that led to its record £250,000 fine last month, including ensuring it can deal with differences between the UK and US, it has emerged. The full ruling of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal included strong words for the firm.

A clerk who handled cases for one law firm while being employed by another has been banned from working in the profession by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. A regulatory settlement agreement published yesterday said that Eugenia Dakwa also accepted a rebuke for her misconduct.

The Treasury yesterday finally published an update on progress with the recommendations of the Insurance Fraud Taskforce, showing that the possibility of increasing the fining power of the Solicitors Regulation Authority remains on the agenda. Work is also being done on a model letter insurers can send to claimants to check they have instructed lawyers.

Lawyers are among those who could face prosecution if they fail to report information that could undermine UK financial sanctions, after a change to the law that came into force this week. “Independent legal professionals”, along with trust or company service providers, accountants and others are now captured by the European Union Financial Sanctions Regulations 2017.