A former solicitor has failed in his bid to return to the profession seven years after being struck off for dishonesty.
Ehsan Kabir submitted to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal that he had shown through his work for an unregulated firm that he should be allowed to return to the roll.
Kabir was struck off in 2019 after being found to have misled the Solicitors Regulation Authority during its investigation into allegations of misuse of client money. He was cleared by the tribunal of any financial impropriety but banned on the basis of his dishonesty to the regulator.
The tribunal said that notwithstanding the passage of time and the absence of further misconduct, the deliberate dishonesty towards the SRA had created ‘an almost insurmountable barrier to restoration.
Kabir submitted to the tribunal that following his strike-off he had reflected on his mental health and received three assessments from a medical professional. These assessments stated that in 2022, Kabir had been unfit to work in any capacity because of depression and his condition was such that he would have been signed off from work. Although the doctor had not examined Kabir during the period of his misconduct, he said that in general, the symptoms he demonstrated could lead to impairments, memory and the ability to process information.
Since he was struck off, the applicant had worked for Kabir Family Law, a multi-office unregulated business where he provided legal information, conducted legal research and helped clients to understand documents and court processes. He had been sole director of the business until stepping down in 2023 but continues to work up to four days a week.
Kabir said he made efforts to keep up to date with developments in the law and completed a number of legal training courses, adding that he planned to work under the supervision and mentorship of an experienced lawyer.
The SRA had opposed Kabir’s application to be restored to the roll, arguing this should only be granted in the most exceptional circumstances and that his original dishonesty had ‘struck at the heart of the trust placed in solicitors’.
The regulator also contended that unregulated work within Kabir Family Law did not demonstrate restored trustworthiness within a regulated environment and raised concerns about the way in which he had been described to clients, including references to being a ‘non-practising solicitor’.
The tribunal accepted that Kabir had made genuine efforts to rehabilitate himself, that his health had improved significantly, and that he had taken a number of positive steps since strike-off, but these were not enough to justify restoration to the roll.
His application was refused and he was ordered to pay £8,434 costs.
