Andrew John McHale and Waheed Abdur Rahman Aslam
- Application 10213-2009
- Hearing 22 April 2010
- Reasons 26 May 2010
The SDT ordered that the first respondent (admitted 1996), of Cheshire WA14, should pay a fine of £10,000; and that the second respondent (admitted 2003), of Manchester M19, should pay a fine of £3,000.
In breach of rule 15 of the Solicitors Accounts Rules 1998, client money had been incorrectly retained in office account; in breach of rule 22 of the rules, monies had been withdrawn from client account in circumstances other than as permitted by rule 22; in breach of rule 32 of the rules, accounting records had not been properly written up at all times; in breach of rule 32(7) of the rules, client account had not been reconciled in accordance with the requirements of rule 32(7); and in breach of rule 1.06 of the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007, the respondents had behaved in such a way as was likely to diminish the trust the public placed in them or in the profession. Furthermore, the first respondent alone had, in breach of rule 5 of the code, had failed to make arrangements for the effective management of his firm; in breach of rule 9 of the code, he had arrangements in place with introducers that had failed to comply with the provisions of rule 9; and, contrary to rule 3 of the code, he had acted in circumstances where there had existed a conflict between his interests and those of his client.
While accepting that the respondents had not set out to mislead, the SDT was concerned that their partnership had had the potential to diminish trust in the profession. However, it accepted that neither respondent presented a risk to the public and was satisfied that an appropriate sanction, taking into consideration all the circumstances, was a fine. On the basis of the number of allegations and the greater culpability of the first respondent, the SDT imposed upon him a fine of £10,000 and in respect of the second respondent, a fine of £3,000. The first respondent was ordered to pay costs of £20,000.
