Solicitors

A solicitor whose CV was full of professional and academic qualifications he did not have has agreed to remove himself from the profession in a move akin to being struck off. He used the CV when he became a consultant in the London office of Canadian firm McCarthy Tetrault.

Three solicitors at a Hertfordshire-based law firm who acted as professional executors are not liable for breach of trust after beneficiaries claimed they had lost almost £1.5m on investments, the High Court has ruled.

A solicitor who took money from vulnerable people for whom she was the court-appointed deputy – and even kept some of it in cash in her wardrobe – has been struck off after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal ruled that her conduct was more than just a “cry for help”.

The partners of a 41-year-old Black Country law firm have expressed their “bitter” disappointment at having to close down due to a dispute with their professional indemnity insurers. At the same time, four lawyers from Sanders & Co are facing the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal over their involvement in a complex overseas investment scheme.

A solicitor who failed in his attempt to challenge the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s closure of his alternative business structure is now to face a disciplinary tribunal, it has emerged. Michael John Elsdon is facing 15 charges, largely in relation to his conduct of probate matters.

A solicitor who received a caution for possessing a small number of indecent images of children has been suspended from practice for a year. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal accepted that he had “stumbled” across the images, which were in the lowest category of severity.

The Law Society has told MPs that plans to give the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and other regulators full independence should be shelved because of the uncertainty caused by the EU Referendum. The society and SRA also clashed on the former’s bid to take over control of setting professional standards.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has dismissed all charges made against a solicitor including alleged breaches of accounts rules and money laundering regulations, and failing to supervise properly a consultant who had been struck off the roll. It is unusual for charges to be thrown out wholesale.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has placed conditions on the practising certificate of a solicitor who safeguarded more than £100,000 of stolen cash for a charismatic conman posing as the Pope’s banker, and is investigating whether further disciplinary action should be taken.

The Law Society has suffered a £5m loss on a botched internal IT project to go with the £7m loss caused by failed conveyancing portal Veyo, it has emerged. The news came as it announced a 9% fall in the proposed practising certificate fee for 2016-17 to £290 – mainly thanks to the society dipping into its reserves.

A paralegal who sent abusive text messages to a client has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Ewelina Niemczyk agreed to the sanction after admitting her conduct was unacceptable.

The Information Commissioner’s Office has launched an investigation, after medical records relating to personal injury claims were found in a skip outside a law firm’s former office in St Helens, Merseyside. Separately, evidence has emerged of bodyshops releasing personal data to third-party law firms and CMCs.

A director of collapsed Devon law firm Eastleys who made “blatantly false” statements to third parties has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. The tribunal described Matthew Roddan’s behaviour as “intolerable”.

An “old-fashioned solicitor” whose firm “became a mess and spiralled downwards” has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. “Even if the respondent’s actions were not pre-mediated when he made the first transfer, by the one hundred and forty seventh transfer they must have been,” it said.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of solicitors appearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal amid claims that some “do not have the rounded set of skills to run a business”. The SDT’s annual report also revealed that it will be looking at whether the Solicitors Regulation Authority is to blame for delays in hearings.