A law firm employee who lied to his boss about a second lucrative job has been struck off the roll. Matthew Moss, admitted in May 2019, had been working for three years for online professional enquiry website JustAnswer while employed by north-west firm Optimal Solicitors.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that when the firm confronted him about suspicions he was moonlighting, Moss flatly denied it and said that money being paid into his account was actually for work done by his brother. He resigned shortly afterwards, saying the trust and mutual respect between employer and employee had been ‘irreparably compromised’.
The firm reported his conduct to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Moss promptly admitted he had given untrue answers to questions about his second job.
Moss told investigators: ‘When questioned about payments from JustAnswer, I panicked. In a moment of severe anxiety, I falsely claimed that the payments were for work my brother had done, using my account. This was not true, and I deeply regret that I misled my employer in this way.’
The tribunal heard that Moss started working with the firm in September 2019 doing mainly employment work. His contract stipulated he was prohibited from any other employment which might interfere with his performance, and that he was required to notify the firm if he was doing any other paid work.
Without telling Optimal, Moss had received payments as a ‘legal expert’ with JustAnswer, a US-based platform offering the advice of professionals, since 2021.
Moss, who worked almost entirely remotely from his home in Cheshire, was told in May 2024 he was being made redundant and began his three-month notice period.
During this period, the firm became concerned about the quality and quantity of his work, and conducted enquiries into his conduct. A substantial volume of emails were found from Moss’s work email address to his personal account, among them attachments showing personal income and payments from JustAnswer amounting to around £81,000, against his earnings of £45,000.
When his line manager asked him if he was working for anyone else, Moss replied ‘not yet’ and denied doing paid work for JustAnswer.
Moss agreed with the SRA he should be struck off, adding that at the time of the meeting, he was under immense personal and professional stress. He had recently been informed that he was being made redundant and was extremely anxious about the loss of his employment, income and professional future. He expressed remorse and insight into his conduct, and accepted he should have been honest and transparent with his employer.
The tribunal approved the outcome and a costs order for £5,759.
