The appplicant appealed against a decision to strike him from the roll of solicitors for dishonesty which he denied. He had drawn documents under which his client invested substantial sums abroad, and lost. She had claimed in negligence. The respondent intervened in his practice. He was found to have condoned fraud if not anything worse. He complained that the tribunal had wrongly admitted the judgment of Peter Smith J in the civil action which he said was unduly prejudicial.
Held: Provided it was treated with rigour, there could be no objection to the tribunal reading the judgment. Though the tribunal heard it nearly in full, it had not relied on non-relevant parts. The respondent had failed to disclose his own interests in the transaction, and had acted with a conflict of interests. The tribunal’s conclusions on dishonesty were justified.
Lord Justice Moses said: ‘We should stress that we do not consider that the allegations of dishonesty were clearly and properly made in the Rule 4 statement. The Rule 4 statement, after alleging conduct unbefitting a solicitor, should have identified that conduct and stated with precision in relation to each aspect of the allegedly guilty conduct the respects in which it was said to be dishonest. It should have alleged that when the appellant acted, despite the conflict of interest, that that conduct was dishonest by the ordinary standards of honest behaviour and that he knew that he was transgressing the ordinary standards of honest behaviour.’
Judges:
Moses LJ
Citations:
[2006] EWHC 725 (Admin)
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Twinsectra Ltd v Yardley and Others HL 21-Mar-2002
Solicitors acted in a loan, giving an undertaking as to its application. In breach of that undertaking they released it to the borrower. The appellants appealed a finding of liability as contributors to the breach.
Held: ‘Money in a . .
Cited by:
Applied – Thaker v Solicitors Regulation Authority Admn 22-Mar-2011
The solicitor appealed against an order striking him off the Roll of Solicitors. He had been a defendant in civil proceedings accused of assisting the former president of Zambia to dispose of very substantial stolen sums. He was said to have allowed . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Legal Professions
Updated: 05 July 2022; Ref: scu.240436
