William Mitchell

• Application 10227-2009
• Admitted 1999
• Hearing 25 February 2010
• Reasons 4 May 2010

The SDT ordered that the respondent, of Eastburn, West Yorkshire, should pay a fine of £10,000.

The respondent had inappropriately charged his client costs after his client had terminated his instructions and additionally charged what was described as a success fee which was wholly disproportionate to the work involved when he ought to have known that those charges could not be justified, in breach of rules 1(a), (c) and (d) of the Solicitors Practice Rules 1990 and rules 1.02, 1.04 and 1.06 of the Solicitors Code of Conduct 2007. The SDT considered the present matter to be a serious case of overcharging. It had given anxious consideration to whether the respondent should be suspended in all of the circumstances. However, having considered the evidence presented to it, including the submissions of both the applicant and the respondent, a substantial fine would reflect the gravity of the matter.

The respondent was ordered to pay costs of £8,600.