A former legal adviser with Slater and Gordon has been barred from the profession for filing misleading statements to avoid court sanctions. 

Michael Berry, who worked at the firm’s Manchester office in the personal injury department, had filed with the court and the defendant an application for relief from sanctions and an extension of time to serve claim documents.

The application was made on 6 July 2020 after the date for service had already been extended by court order to 20 June.

According to a Solicitors Regulation Authority notice, Berry submitted a witness statement with a number of false and misleading points. He claimed to have been unaware that the order had been made on the matter because it was not scanned onto the case management system.

He said he had been unable to review the paper file in the office due to the Covid restrictions, and had discovered the June order only through an audit after the date for service.

Berry also told the court and defendant that counsel had been instructed to settle the particulars of claim urgently.

The SRA said that Berry then filed another misleading witness statement with the court and served on the defendant a month later, repeating his false claims about documents not being scanned onto the system and delays arising from lockdown.

The regulator stated that Berry breached four principles by failing to uphold the rule of law, failing to uphold public trust in the profession and failing to act with honesty or integrity. He was made subject to a disqualification order preventing him from working for any regulated law firm and directed to pay £600 costs.

Berry was with Slater and Gordon for a year to October 2020, when he resigned with immediate effect.