The Solicitors Regulation Authority closes Mayfair-based law firm as a result of four subsequent minor rule breaches.
The intervention was instigated after the firm’s manager raised suspicions following accusations of dishonesty. Following the SRA’s statement announcing there was reason to suggest the manager had failed to comply with the code of conduct and accounts rules, the manager has been suspended. As a result, a Dorset-based firm has been appointed as the intervening agent while the firm’s clients are being contacted regarding available options.
There is currently no suggestion that the prior breaches were linked to the eventual intervention. The firm in question, however, has been fined several times over the past 12 months, including once last November. The SRA issued the firm with a £750 penalty for not notifying the regulator appropriately regarding the change of its compliance officer.
Two months after the firm failed to meet its regulatory obligations, the fine was increased to £1,500. The SRA fined the firm £750 again, however, for not submitting its annual return of data about the practice within the permitted time. This fine was once again increased to £1,500 when the firm didn’t take the expected necessary action.
In the report, the Solicitors Regulation Authority stated, “There is reason to suspect dishonesty on the part of [the manager] in connection with the firm’s business (paragraph 32(1)(d)(i) of Schedule 2 to the Administration of Justice Act 1985.”
“[The] manager of the firm, and the firm itself, have failed to comply with the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs, the SRA Code of Conduct for Firms, the SRA Accounts Rules and the SRA Authorisation of Firms Rules which are rules applicable to them as a manager of the firm and the firm itself by virtue of section 9 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 (as amended) (paragraph 32(1)(a) of Schedule 2 of that Act).”
Read the full Gazette article, click here: Mayfair firm shut down by SRA after four fines in a year
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