A solicitor who lied to her client to buy herself more time has accepted she should be struck off the roll. Laura Simpson, who worked for national firm Switalskis, admitted she ‘chickened out’ of telling the client the truth when presented with an expert’s report which undermined the case.
Instead she told the client the report had not yet been received, but the true picture emerged when the client spoke to Simpson’s secretary who said the report was sent weeks before.
The client complained to the firm which referred the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The case proceeded to a one-day hearing before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal last month, where Simpson admitted dishonesty and accepted she should no longer be allowed to work in the profession.
The tribunal heard that Simpson, admitted in 2009, had been handling the claim for around a year when she was sent an expert’s report in June 2023, assessing that there was unlikely to be a case.
She then emailed the client to say the report would be received ‘imminently’. In a subsequent email she said she was ‘still chasing’ the outstanding report but that she had spoken to the expert and would ‘keep on at him and be in touch once it’s in’.
When the client later emailed Simpson for another update, she received an out-of-office message. The client phoned the firm, spoke to Simpson’s secretary and learnt that the report had been with the solicitor for eight weeks.
In a meeting with Switalskis’ compliance officer, Simpson admitted she had ‘lied’ to the client about the report and hoped the matter would ‘go unnoticed until [she] found the time to consider the report and advise the client’. She stated during an internal disciplinary hearing that it was a ‘stupid thing to do’ but she had wanted to ‘buy herself some time’.
Simpson admitted all misconduct allegations brought against her by the SRA, adding that she had not practised since February and did not intend to return to the profession. In mitigation, she stated that she had carried a heavy caseload of complex claims at the time but apologised for her conduct and said it was completely unacceptable.
The tribunal said: ‘Mrs Simpson was motivated by her desire to buy herself time with a client whom she described as "challenging". Her conduct was planned and was in breach of the trust placed in her by [the client] to keep her apprised of progress on her case.
‘She had caused harm to [the client], who described being stressed awaiting the report, and that being lied to and misled by Mrs Simpson had had a negative impact on her mental health and wellbeing.’
The SRA had applied for costs of £30,000. The tribunal accepted the £5,000 costs of the investigation but said the fixed fee agreed with legal adviser Blake Morgan was ‘excessive’. Taking account of her means, Simpson was ordered to pay £3,000 costs.
