A solicitor already suspended in 2020 has been struck off after he admitted repeatedly lying to a client about the progress of her case.
Mahesh Chouhan had been instructed in September 2016 to recover an outstanding debt for his client. Over the next three-and-a-half years he made 11 dishonest statements saying court proceedings were underway and the matter was being pursued.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal also heard that Chouhan continued to hold himself out as a solicitor for five months when his practising certificate had been suspended by the SRA (he was subsequently suspended for an unrelated matter by the SDT for two years in 2020).
He then denied practising after the intervention when he knew this information was untrue.
The tribunal heard that Chouhan, admitted in 2011, took several payments for the debt recovery matter for work that was not being completed.
He told the client that papers were being served on the debtor, that requests had been made to chase it up, that he was waiting for arbitrators to come back to him and that he was meeting with enforcement officers. Chouhan later confirmed that no claim had been issued. The SRA told the tribunal that Chouhan chose to deliberately provide the client with incorrect information and when asked to provide updates ‘he maintained the lie by providing further information that he knew was untrue’.
Following the SRA’s intervention, the regulator required Chousan to close his firm MMC Solicitors, of which he was the sole manager. But he continued to work on client matters and sent letters on MMC Solicitors headed paper. When challenged, he falsely stated to the SRA that since his suspension he had not undertaken any legal work nor corresponded with clients.
Chouhan admitted dishonesty and made an agreed outcome with the SRA that he should be struck off and pay £1,500 costs. He offered mitigation that his conduct was out of character and cited medical issues, details of which were redacted in the SDT ruling.
