John Philip Barnes
Admitted 1985Application 7926/1999Hearing, 19 January 2000;reasons, 19 May 2000
The SDT imposed penalties totalling 10,000 on the respondent, of 161 Dobbin Hill, Ecclesall, Sheffield S11 7JF, who had practised in a partnership and later as a sole practitioner, for unbefitting conduct, in that (i) he had failed to act in the best interests of clients, contrary to Practice Rule 1; (ii) he had acted (or continued to act) where there was a conflict of interests between clients; and (iii) he had been guilty of impropriety in dealing with building society clients.
The tribunal accepted that, at the material time, it was the belief of many solicitors that their duty to institutional lending clients was chiefly to ensure that the borrower obtained a good and marketable title to the property offered as security and that the lender's security was perfected; it was not uncommon for a solicitor to consider that unusual financial aspects of any transaction need not be referred to an institutional lender.
Although the tribunal had considered removing the respondent's ability to practise, it decided that his shortcomings could be met by a substantial financial penalty; a penalty of 3,000 was imposed in respect of each of allegations (i) and (ii), and a penalty of 4,000 was imposed in respect of allegation (iii).
The respondent was ordered to pay 5,390 costs.
The tribunal recommended that he should be permitted to practise only in approved employment or in an approved partnership.
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