The SRA has responded to the recent newspaper sting on immigration solicitors by issuing a warning notice to others practising in the sector.
The regulator said that based on examples of wrongdoing it had seen and which have been reported in the media, it is concerned about solicitors potentially advising clients to falsify of fabricate information to support asylum applications.
Over a period of time, the SRA added, it had also identified risks around solicitors producing poorly drafted applications, or advising their clients to pursue totally without merit appeals of Home Office decisions through the courts.
In July 2023 the regulator intervened into three specific firms and made an order restricting the practice of a non-authorised person working at another. This was days after a Daily Mail front page article featuring an undercover reporter who posed as a potential client. Rashid & Rashid in South Wimbledon, Kingswright Solicitors in Birmingham and Lincoln Lawrence in Hounslow were intervened into by the regulator.
The warning notice suggests there are concerns that wrongdoing could be more widespread than simply a handful of firms.
Paul Philip, chief executive of the SRA, said: ‘Users of immigration and asylum legal services can be among the most vulnerable people in society, and can potentially face severe consequences if not advised properly.
‘This warning notice should act as a reminder that our rules are clear about the high professional standards we expect. We won’t hesitate to take action against solicitors or firms who fall short.’
The notice states that applying to appeal decisions where the case is without merit and bound to fail abuses the courts system, and does not uphold the rule of law.
The SRA says that solicitors should advise their client to make an honest account of and provide accurate information about their circumstances in any application submitted to the Home Office, tribunal or court.
The notice adds: ‘You must not be complicit in providing a false or fabricated account or generating “evidence” to support a false or fabricated account. We expect you to challenge your client should they suggest falsifying or fabricating their account or information to support their application.
‘Where you have reason to doubt it, you should take steps to assure yourself about the authenticity of your client’s account and evidence they provide in support.’
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, Philip said the warning notice was about ‘making explicit what should be implicit’, but he denied the regulator was doing the government’s bidding by adding to a pile-on against the legal profession.
‘The government was suggesting this [misconduct] was really widespread and the term lefty lawyer was used. We are not getting involved in that.’
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