A law firm owner has been sanctioned after telling a client they would not be able to complain to the Solicitors Regulation Authority as a condition of a settlement offer.
Ian Bond, admitted in 1986 and a sole practitioner of Canterbury firm Bond Joseph, had been subject to a complaint from a client in 2019.
In a letter signed by him, Bond made an offer to settle the client’s complaint, but subject to conditions. One of these conditions was that the client would not pursue a complaint with any regulatory body, be it the SRA or legal ombudsman.
In the event, the client’s complaint was not settled. After the client instructed an independent law firm to respond, another offer was made with the same condition.
Bond accepted that he should not have made any attempt to prevent the client from making complaints. He told an SRA adjudicator he should have reflected further before signing and sending the letter to the client, and insisted he did not intend to prevent the client providing information to the regulator.
The SRA said Bond was a senior solicitor who set up his practice in 1997. Some public sanction was required to uphold public confidence in the profession, but the breach was admitted by Bond and there was a low risk of repetition. The settlement offer was ultimately not accepted by the client and so there was no lasting significant harm.
Bond was rebuked and agreed to pay £600 costs.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated matter which happened to be reported on the same day, a former employee of Bond Joseph has been banned from the profession after accepting cash from a client and not paying it into the client account.
Tom Clarke, a non-solicitor, told the SRA in 2021 that he had not received the payment and was found to be dishonest. Clarke was handed a section 43 notice, preventing him from working for any regulated firm again without SRA permission.
