A solicitor has been suspended from practice for six months and ordered to pay £16,800 in costs after she 'failed to take appropriate steps' to protect the interests of her vulnerable client over more than a decade.
Elizabeth Forrest qualified in 1995 and was a solicitor at Meikles Solicitors, Durham. She admitted to misconduct spanning a period from 2006 to 2022 in documents of fact put before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Forrest admitted failing to act in the best interests of a child, referred to as Client A in the judgment, from 2006 to 2022, regarding a house worth £130,000 left to him when his father died in 1997.
Client A was too young to look after the house so ownership was listed under the names of the administrators of the father’s estate, and the property was rented out.
Forrest did not transfer the property into Client A’s name and failed to ensure the rental income was paid to him. The SDT found Forrest’s inaction ‘caused harm' by jeopardising Client A’s interests in the property, the value of which diminished after one of the administrators took out a mortgage for £20,000 against it.
The SDT said Forrest was culpable as she had acted in breach of a position of trust and had had direct control of the circumstances giving rise to the misconduct.
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The SDT found that 'despite being an experienced solicitor', Forrest 'did not act with the integrity, probity and trustworthiness expected of a solicitor'.
The Court of Protection appointed Forrest as Client A’s deputy for property and financial affairs in 2006. The tribunal added that she took on the role despite knowing that she did not have any relevant experience.
SDT documents reveal severe delays and breakdown in communication between Forrest, the administrator of Client A’s estate, and the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) over several years.
Forrest also admitted submitting annual reports to the OPG, which were signed with a statement of truth, knowing the contents were incomplete or inaccurate, between 2006 and 2022. The OPG reported Forrest to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2022. She subsequently asked to be removed as Client A’s deputy, and an investigation by the OPG found her removal to be sufficient and the SRA withdrew an allegation of dishonesty.
The SDT noted that Forrest had suffered from ill-health and had been on long-term sick leave between February 2016 and January 2017. It found that while Forrest’s actions were not planned and that she did not gain personally or financially, the misconduct was 'repeated and sustained'.
The seriousness of misconduct was such that 'a reprimand or fine is not a sufficient sanction'. Forrest's six-month suspension runs from 20 July 2026.
