Report comment

There is one standard and everyone - other than the SRA - seems to understand it. It is the criminal standard. See Richards v Law Society [2009] EWHC 2087 (Admin), at [22]{

"Mr Dutton Queen's Counsel for the Solicitors' Regulation Authority came close to accepting -- although he was not allowed to argue the point completely -- that this court is bound by the decision of this court presided over by Lord Chief Justice Lane in Re A Solicitor (1993) QB 69, as considered and applied by the Privy Counsel in Campbell v Hamlet (2005)3 All ER 1116. Insofar as these two authorities might arguably leave some minor room for manoeuvre in cases where the alleged misconduct does not have criminal overtones, that is better debated and decided in a case where the standard of proof makes a difference, and probably in the House of Lords. We strongly doubt whether the House of Lords would give leave for appeal in this case for the very reason that the debate is academic."