On the clock: Solicitor often billed more hours than possible
A senior solicitor who recorded an average of 28 hours of work a day over a period of 12 months in a bid to maximise her bonus has been struck off.
Samina Ahmed’s conduct led to her employer, leading criminal defence law firm Tuckers, having to repay the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) nearly £100,000.
Ms Ahmed, 46, qualified in 2005 and worked for 17 years as a prison law solicitor at Tuckers until September 2022. She was a senior solicitor who supervised trainees.
She admitted the allegations before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), which heard that, in the year to 30 June 2022, she recorded 7,511.70 hours over 266 days (an average of 28.24 hours a day), which included 133 days when she claimed more than 24 hours.
“Ms Ahmed continued to do this, even after being warned in a meeting on 7 April 2022, and by so doing she misled the firm,” the SDT said.
The misleading time entries were used to bill the LAA and were high enough that the fixed-fee structure under the prison law contract was exceeded, allowing actual time spent on a matter to be recovered and increasing the loss to the public purse.
As a result of this “systemic billing abuse”, the LAA overpaid Tuckers £98,093, which it had to repay.
“Ms Ahmed was motivated by the firm’s bonus scheme which rewarded high billing. Ms Ahmed aimed to reach the highest bonus tier (400% of salary), potentially earning £69,300. No bonus was paid, however, as the firm discovered the misconduct in time…
“As a result of Ms Ahmed’s conduct falling far below expected standards, she acted dishonestly, failed to act with integrity, undermined public trust and confidence in the profession and misled both the LAA, into paying for work, which was not done, and the firm, into believing that she was eligible for a bonus.”
The SDT found that the seriousness of Ms Ahmed’s actions were “at the highest level” and that she should be struck off.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority sought costs of nearly £50,000 but, given Ms Ahmed’s limited means, the tribunal ordered that she pay £5,000.