A law firm analyst who used her employer's headed notepaper to pretend to be a solicitor in a tenancy dispute has been barred from working in the profession.
Ridita Rahman was employed as an AML compliance analyst at US-based firm Debevoise & Plimpton but was found to have sent misleading correspondence about her role. A Solicitors Regulation Authority notice stated that she sent a letter using the firm’s headed paper over a private issue relating to a landlord-tenant dispute involving her partner.
The 2024 letter untruthfully described Rahman as an associate of Debevoise & Plimpton. She also used her work email to correspond with the third party. Two weeks later, she used the same work account to send the tenant a Section 8 notice – used by landlords in England and Wales to begin the eviction process – which suggested that the firm was acting on behalf of her partner in the matter.
Rahman left the firm, where she had been employed for less than six months, soon after. In 2025, the firm was made aware that Rahman had used its letterhead, as well as a firm email account, to correspond with a third party individual about a private tenancy dispute.
The SRA said Rahman had acted dishonestly and that her conduct was serious. She was given a section 43 notice preventing her from working for any regulated firm without SRA permission and ordered to pay £600 costs.
