A solicitor who ran claims on behalf of women given pelvic mesh implants has failed to engage with the disciplinary proceedings he faces, it has emerged.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard today that Darren Hanison, who ran now-closed West Sussex firm Fortitude Law, has yet to respond to charges made against him or plead any defence.
Hanison is alleged to have failed to tell a client he was taking half of her damages in costs and failed to ensure that clients had valid after-the-event insurance to run claims.
He is also alleged to have failed to take instructions from a litigation client, failed to deal with requests for payments from a third party, made misleading demands for costs and dishonestly kept settlement money to pay supposed success fees.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority, prosecuting, successfully applied to the tribunal for permission to have the case heard in his absence. The tribunal also ruled that Hanison will be limited in how late he can produce any evidence that might be relevant to his defence.
The matter has been allocated a three-day substantive hearing scheduled for next February.
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Fortitude Law advertised itself as a specialist in running claims on behalf of women who received harmful pelvic mesh implants. The firm was shut down in 2023 to protect the public and Hanison was suspended from practice.
Mesh implants had been used in the surgical repair of pelvic organ prolapse and to manage stress urinary incontinence, but they have been linked to crippling, life-changing complications.
Last month, campaign group Sling the Mesh said women harmed by pelvic mesh implants were still fighting for justice five years after a review into the scandal. Kath Sansom, founder of the campaign, said: 'It’s not good enough. Five years ago, Baroness Cumberlege [former Conservative health minister Julia Cumberlege] laid bare the systemic failures that caused irreparable harm to women across the UK.
‘Yet here we are in 2025, and the government has dragged its feet on the most critical reforms. Women are without compensation and still being failed by a healthcare system that was supposed to protect them.’
