Intervention: Two firms operated through Abbott Legal
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) yesterday shut down two law firms – including a nine-partner practice in Yorkshire – due to the suspected dishonesty of a solicitor.
The regulator intervened in Abbot Legal Ltd, which operated as Abbott & Co in Manchester and XYZ Law in Dewsbury, because there was “reason to suspect dishonesty” on the part of manager Umar Vachhiat.
According to Companies House records, Mr Vachhiat is the sole director of Abbott Legal, Anis Dadu having resigned in 2022. Mr Dadu is the managing partner of XYZ Law.
Though the XYZ website says it is a trading name of Abbott Legal, there is an entry for XYZ Law Ltd at Companies House, which says it is owned by Mr Dadu. Mr Vachhiat has never been a director of XYZ Law Ltd.
Mr Vachhiat is named as the principal solicitor on the Abbott & Co website but is not referenced on the XYZ website. Mr Dadu is listed as a solicitor on the Abbott & Co website, which names two other people as working there.
XYZ Law, which opened in 2020, is headquartered in Dewsbury and has a branch office in Manchester – at the same address as Abbott & Co – and in London.
Operating with a mix of employed staff and freelance consultants, it has nine partners and 14 solicitors, and handles conveyancing, commercial property, wills and probate, immigration, family and civil litigation work.
It is unusual for a firm of this size to be shut down by the SRA.
Writing on LinkedIn yesterday, XYZ partner Samantha Burrows said: “Today I received the devastating news that the firm of which I am an employed partner has been intervened by the SRA. Like my colleagues, I only learned of this today and it has come as a huge shock to us all.
“Right now my priority has been to support the team as we begin to process this news together. It will take time for me to fully understand what has happened and to come to terms with the impact, both professionally and personally.”
The unexpected nature of the intervention was shown by a LinkedIn post on Friday by a member of staff who only joined XYZ last Monday and wrote: “As soon as I stepped into the office on Monday morning I noticed how positive the atmosphere was, I could tell immediately that people were proud to work there.”
Last year, Mr Dadu was reprimanded [1] by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal after admitting that he wrongly failed to notify his insurer that he had taken on another firm’s cases. But the regulator did not prove its allegation that he had dishonestly misled the insurer in a later proposal form.
XYZ said on its website that it was looking to build a national network of consultant solicitors, while it also runs the XYZ Foundation, providing “funds, resources and mentoring support to help individuals, groups and communities achieve their full potential”.
In January, XYZ launched an AI-powered chatbot to provide “preliminary legal insights and guidance on a wide range of topics”.
It explained: “By automating routine queries and providing immediate responses to common questions, the assistant improves workflow efficiency and allows our legal team to focus on more complex matters. It is available 24/7 to enhance client service, ensuring no query goes unattended.”
It also joined the QualitySolicitors Network, which provides marketing and other support services, earlier this year.