An Essex firm with strong links to its local community has been shut down by the regulator with immediate effect over suspicions of dishonesty. The Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed yesterday that it had intervened to close down Rainer Hughes because of reason to suspect dishonesty on the part of manager Sanjay Panesar.
There is also reason to suspect that Panesar has failed to comply with the accounts rules, the regulator said.
No further details were provided about the factors behind the intervention, which is being handled by north west firm Stephensons. All social media pages relating to the firm have been closed and the Rainer Hughes website is ‘under maintenance’ for updates.
The firm has five solicitors, according to the SRA website, including Panesar who was admitted in 2002.
It took a prominent role in the local community: the firm sponsored West Ham Women Football Club for five years and worked with the club to raise awareness of domestic abuse and charities to support it.
The firm also supported Christmas festivities in its home town Shenfield last year and for several years was a corporate supporter of children’s charity Kids Inspire.
Rainer Hughes founder Brian Hughes turned 90 earlier this year and was featured in the Times, telling the newspaper he had no intention of slowing down and enjoyed working for his local community. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on his part.
Senior partner Panesar featured in the Gazette in 2020 after successfully representing a client in the Supreme Court who had been dismissed after making a protected disclosure. This was, he said, his fourth case in the Supreme Court, each one standing out as a career high.
