A solicitor who lied to clients for four years has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

Rhodd Llwyd Humphreys, admitted in 2002, was accused by the Solicitors Regulation Authority of making untrue statements to her clients and third parties. Humphreys admitted to all the allegations, including that her conduct was dishonest.

The SRA alleged that when working as an assistant solicitor at BBH Legal Services Limited in Cheshire, Humphreys told the beneficiary of an estate that she had written to National Savings and Investments for a statement and that she would forward the document on when she had received it. In reality, no investment had been made so no statement had been requested.

According to the judgment, Humphreys also lied to clients and third parties when working as an assistant solicitor at GHP Legal in Wrexham. The SRA alleged that Humphreys told a client that a grant of probate had been obtained when she knew it had not. 

Other untrue statements stemmed from this. For example, six months later she told her clients that the probate document had been sent to a wealth management firm when she knew probate had not even been obtained. 

According to the judgment, the tribunal noted that Humphrey’s conduct had continued over a period of four years and had been deliberate. It said: ‘Given the serious nature of the respondent’s misconduct, in that it involved admitted dishonesty, the tribunal considered the only appropriate and proportional sanction was to strike the respondent off the roll of solicitors.’

Humphreys was struck off the roll and ordered to pay costs of £2,500.

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