Law Gazette - SDT & SRA interventions

Solicitor is allowed to practise after tribunal hears of pressures she and colleagues were under.

The profession must be careful about accepting different degrees of dishonesty.

The SDT ordered that Acres should be struck off the roll and ordered him to pay costs of £70,000.

The SDT ordered Wilson to pay costs of £9,714 and Crompton to pay costs of £4,800.

Poor practices became common when Cardiff firm started to experience cashflow problems, tribunal hears.

Signey was ordered to pay costs of £44,860.

Family lawyer said the SRA had been unfair in finding five allegations proved against her.

The SDT ordered that Dumbleton and Gabriel should pay a fine of £5,000 each, Jones was dealt with separately.

The STD ordered that Panayides and Clifford Chance LLP should bay a fine of £50,000 each.

The SDT ordered that Babalola’s application for the determination of the indefinite suspension imposed on him should be refused.

Alexis Maitland Hudson says there is no basis for charges of conflict of interest and misleading the regulator.

Tribunal finds Alastair Main acted in breach of two SRA principles during incident at rowing club dinner.

A long-serving legal aid solicitor has been fined after his firm failed to pay more than £53,000 in disbursements to expert witnesses.

Keith Tallon, 70, admitted not knowing how to enter invoices on to the system and was found to have failed to keep proper accounting records for more than 15 years until his firm, south-east London practice Cook Taylor, was shut down in 2016.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard Tallon admitted retaining disbursements in the office account as his ailing firm struggled to stay afloat, but he had denied his actions amounted to a lack of integrity.

Instead, Tallon urged the tribunal to appreciate the difference between ‘moral soundness, rectitude and steady adherence to an ethical code, and steady adherence to a regulatory code’.

The solicitor said he either continued with the system he inherited from former partners, with experts being paid as time went by, or he stopped paying loyal staff and brought about the collapse of the firm.

But the tribunal said legal aid monies had been distributed for a specific reason and were either withheld or not paid for several years. It was noted Tallon continued to take ‘not insubstantial’ drawings while withholding disbursements over several years.

While Tallon could supply character references talking up his casework in the fields of child care and public law, they were considered of limited value when considering his lack of knowledge of his firm’s management systems. The solicitor of more than 44 years was found to have lacked integrity.

The tribunal heard this was not a case of someone committing financial irregularities to ‘feather his own nest’ but rather someone trying to keep the firm, which was also being pursued for an unpaid £230,000 tax bill, afloat and continue to pay his staff. He pointed out he had not left legal aid work even as cuts began to bite, but had remained available at all hours for his clients.

The tribunal accepted Tallon no longer wished to practise and fined him £2,500, with conditions imposed in case he did wish to return to the profession.

Tribunal strikes off solicitor with 20 years’ experience after finding her to have acted dishonestly.

The SDT ordered that the respondent should be suspended from practice for two years from 28 November 2017, that period of suspension being suspended for three years from the same date, subject to compliance by the respondent with the terms of the following restriction order.

The SDT ordered that the respondent should pay a fine of £30,000, and that he should be subject to various conditions.

The SDT ordered that the respondent should be struck of the roll.

The SDT ordered that the respondent should be struck off the roll.

Tribunal rules that Shane Khattak lacks experience and track record to justify lifting exclusion order.

Misconduct uncovered at Midlands firm after resignation of the finance coordinator.

Tribunal shows mercy to junior who worked in 'culture of fear'

Junior lawyer deserved compassion, but we can never get comfortable with dishonesty

SDT: Stephen John Acres

SDT: David Andrew Wilson, Natalie Jane Crompton

Law firm boss banned after withholding almost £200k in counsel fees

SDT: Geoffrey Martin Signey

Solicitor to pay £54k costs of failed appeal against £2k fine

SDT: Paul Anthony Dumbleton, Martin James Gabriel and Barrie Yorath Jones

SDT: Alexandros Panayides and Clifford Chance LLP

SDT: George Babalola

'Massive holes in SRA case', City solicitor tells tribunal

City lawyer suspended after assault conviction

Fined legal aid solicitor vows to end 44-year career

Court of Protection deputy misappropriated £170k from client accounts

SDT: Sovani Ramona James

SDT: David Pius Jude Feenan

SDT: Paul Anthony Dumbleton

SDT: Kate Louise Sanderson

Banned 'factory' conveyancer refused entry to legal profession

Solicitors fined after colleague moved £1.7m client money to save firm