The solicitor claimant appealed against a finding of misconduct leading to his being struck from the Roll of Solicitors.
Held: The assessment and judgment by the tribunal was impregnable and the undoubted history of ill health cannot weigh with me or impact upon the tribunal’s ultimate finding and conclusion with regard to dishonesty. Holman J said: ‘I have a considerable element of sympathy for Mr Bains. It seems highly unlikely that he would have found himself in this position but for the untimely death of his partner and the pressures that were placed upon him by certain clients whom he thought were honourable and good for the money when, in truth, they were not. But for the reasons I have given, I am not able to conclude that there is any respect in which the decision of the tribunal was wrong or reached unfairly, and this appeal must be dismissed.’
Holman J
[2015] EWHC 506 (Admin)
Bailii
England and Wales
Legal Professions
Updated: 28 December 2021; Ref: scu.543778