SRA: Section 43 orders
A trainee solicitor and a legal cashier have each been banned from working for law firms after being found to have taken money from their respective firms.
The pair have been made subject to orders under section 43 of the Solicitors Act 1974, which prevents them from working for regulated businesses without the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) permission.
According to a notice published by the regulator yesterday, Tauseef Sadeeq worked as a paralegal for Bolton firm Jacob Miller Solicitors between July 2019 and September 2020, after which he became a trainee solicitor at the firm.
He was dismissed on 5 March 2021 after it was found that, over the previous year, he had misappropriated £100,437 from third-party insurers along with £2,000 from the firm, and fabricated signatures on four payment request forms.
The SRA said Mr Sadeeq’s conduct was dishonest and also ordered him to pay costs of £1,350.
Dean Stephen Peter Cowley was employed as a legal cashier by Samuels Law in Liverpool, a recognised sole practice.
He was dismissed for gross misconduct in July 2020 after finding that Mr Cowley fraudulently signed nine cheques over the course of 13 months in order to misappropriate £22,431 from the firm’s client account.
Earlier this week, we reported [1] that another trainee solicitor had also been made subject to a section 43 order over a previous conviction for stalking.