Davies: Agreed facts of case with CLC
Disqualified licensed conveyancer Lloyd Davies did not “accurately” reflect the agreed facts of his case in his public statement about it, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) said yesterday in an unusual move.
The regulator said it was commenting “in more detail than usual” on a decision of its independent Adjudication Panel “because it has been the subject of misleading coverage in some parts of the property trade press over the last week or so”.
As we reported last week, Mr Davies – the high-profile founder of South Wales firm Convey Law as well as the charity the Conveyancing Foundation – did not tell 302 apprentices and students that his training academy had first had its official approval suspended and then, some months later, removed altogether – and indeed continued to publicise its approval by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), which accredits CLC courses.
As a result, any work they did for their qualifications from that point was rendered worthless.
Some other legal and property publications published in full a lengthy statement put out by Mr Davies entitled ‘My apologies to the conveyancing profession’.
In it, he hit out at the “incompetent and draconian actions of both the SQA and the CLC” and said he agreed to surrender his practising license so as to exonerate the colleague who was prosecuted with him. All charges against her were dropped.
The statement did not actually include an apology to the profession as such. Mr Davies apologised to “the eight students whose CLC courses were delayed as a result of this matter” and two Convey Law directors affected by the trigger event, where a senior member of the academy’s staff had given them exam papers in advance.
In 2023, the CLC revoked their licences and Mr Davies claimed that its investigation had driven them out of the profession, despite being “found innocent”.
He also offered “my sincere apologies again to everyone effected (sic) by these chronic events”.
In its regular newsletter to licensed conveyancers yesterday, the CLC pointed out that the prosecution was settled by agreement between the CLC and Mr Davies shortly before what was expected to be a seven-day hearing.
“As part of the settlement, the CLC and Mr Davies agreed the facts of the case. Those agreed facts were not reflected accurately in subsequent press articles that were presented as an apology from Mr Davies to the conveyancing profession,” it said.
“As the agreed facts make plain, Mr Davies purported to offer the national professional qualifications leading to licence to practise as a licensed conveyancer through his training provider business, The Conveyancing Academy, after its SQA licence had been suspended and later rescinded. This was in contravention of Mr Davies’ contract with the SQA.
“Mr Davies’ actions damaged the education of 302 trainee licensed conveyancers who were working hard to achieve their ambitions to enter the legal profession.
“It brought into disrepute the reputation of the profession of which he was a member and harmed the efforts of so many to increase the numbers of qualified licensed conveyancers.”
The CLC said that, while it was “regrettable” to have to take such action, “it was necessary to protect the public and client interest”.
It went on: “We are satisfied with the outcome of the case – that Mr Davies was permanently disqualified from being a licensed conveyancer and the CLC has been awarded costs of £175,000, payable by Mr Davies, to reimburse the profession for the costs of the disciplinary action against him.”
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