Tag Results
Solicitor with “cavalier attitude to regulation” is struck off
Tuesday, 16 February 2016A sole practitioner who refused to close his firm after failing to find indemnity insurance has been struck off and ordered to pay £20,000 costs. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal described Anthony Alabi as having a “cavalier attitude to regulation”.
Tags: Indemnity insurance, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Regulation, Solicitors
“It was too good to be true”: SDT strikes off solicitor scam victim who raided client accounts
Thursday, 11 February 2016A sole practitioner who was the victim of fraudsters and raided his clients’ money to pay them off, has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. He claimed he had been threatened by the fraudsters, who would come to his house to collect their money.
Tags: Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors
Cocaine addict solicitor wins right to further appeal hearing on privilege
Thursday, 4 February 2016A solicitor convicted of perverting the course of justice for sharing information about police activities with drug dealers has won the right to a further appeal hearing on the issue of legal professional privilege. Basharat Ali Ditta was jailed for three years by Liverpool Crown Court.
Tags: Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
Posted in Latest news, Regulation, Solicitors
SDT suspends solicitor who let client account become banking facility
Tuesday, 2 February 2016A solicitor who allowed her firm’s client account to be used as a banking facility by a property investment company has been suspended by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Theresa Quartey was described by the SDT as “inconsistent, contradictory and at times evasive” in her evidence.
Tags: money laundering, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
Posted in Latest news, Regulation, Solicitors
Unregulated firms are the future, says high-profile struck-off solicitor as he sets one up
Monday, 1 February 2016The former chair of the Law Society’s land law and conveyancing committee, who was struck off last summer, has helped his wife set up an unregulated law firm, it has emerged. Richard Barnett, former senior partner of Southport firm Barnetts, is a consultant at Legal Heroes.
Tags: Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, unregulated providers
Posted in Latest news, Regulation, Solicitors
Firm propped up by loan from employee “did not mislead” SRA over financial difficulties
Thursday, 28 January 2016A law firm owner did not mislead the Solicitors Regulation Authority over the financial difficulties his practice was facing, even though he was reliant on loans from a senior solicitor to keep it afloat, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has ruled.
Tags: accounts rules, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Regulation, Solicitors
Solicitor who made “conscious choice to prop up her practice with client funds” is struck off
Monday, 25 January 2016A sole practitioner who made a “conscious choice to prop up her practice with client funds” has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Harvinder McKibbin told the tribunal that “as a true sole practitioner, matters had become a bit too much being on my own with no support”.
Tags: accounts rules, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Regulation, Solicitors
Dual-qualified lawyer struck off as solicitor is disbarred for “persistent dishonesty”
Monday, 25 January 2016A dual-qualified employment lawyer, struck off as a solicitor last year for deceiving clients, has been disbarred for his “persistent dishonesty”. The Bar Standards Board said Jean Etienne Attala attempted to cover up the fact employment claims he was handling had been struck out.
Tags: Bar disciplinary tribunal, bar standards board, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal
Posted in Barristers, Latest news, Regulation
SDT fines London solicitors who did not realise they needed to close down their firm
Friday, 22 January 2016Three solicitors from East London have been fined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for failing to secure or check that indemnity insurance was in place for their firm, and continuing to accept new clients when they should have been closing it down.
Tags: Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Indemnity insurance, Latest news, Regulation, Solicitors
Major insurance fraud report: Increase SRA fining powers, lower tribunal burden of proof
Tuesday, 19 January 2016The government should consider strengthening the fining powers of the Solicitors Regulation Authority and lowering the burden of proof in cases that reach the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as part of the reforms needed to combat insurance fraud, a major report has recommended.
Tags: personal injury, referral fee ban, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, Solicitors Regulation Authority
Posted in Latest news, Solicitors