Abraham Verghese
- Application 10691-2010
- Admitted 1994
- Hearing 14 September 2011
- February 2012
- Reasons 9 March 2012
The SDT ordered that the respondent should be struck off the roll.
Contrary to rules 1.02 and 1.06 of the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007, he had acted dishonestly and without integrity and had behaved in a way that was likely to diminish the trust the public placed in him or the legal profession, by confirming under oath during the course of proceedings in an employment tribunal heard at Leeds that the contents of a witness statement signed by and relied on by him were true and then subsequently admitting during the course of the same proceedings that they were untrue; and contrary to rule 1.06 of the code, while attending his employers’ offices under the influence of alcohol, he had been verbally aggressive during a telephone conversation with another solicitor.
The SDT had carefully considered the representations made by the respondent since the hearing on 14 September 2011. It had made a finding of dishonesty against the respondent which it considered to have been plain on the evidence and there were no exceptional circumstances.
Accordingly, the SDT considered that its only course was to strike the respondent from the roll. The respondent was ordered to pay costs of £16,732.
