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From Paul Philip's letter to Nigel Evans MP:

"It may also be helpful to explain further that a finding of dishonesty by the SDT is not necessary for payments to be made from the compensation fund. Indeed, even where a finding of dishonesty is made (such as by the adjudication panel considering compensation fund applications in the Charles Fraser-Macnamara case) a grant cannot be made unless the relevant activities were of the kind commonly performed by solicitors.

It is not the usual business of a solicitor to set up escrow accounts where there is no underlying legal transaction. Here the firm simply received money in and paid it over to Ecohouse (less its costs).

This view reflects the decision of the SDT, which said that the firm received money and paid it out when there was no need for it to be involved, and that this was not the work of solicitors. The High Court referred to the firm having improperly used its client account as a banking facility. And finally, the Legal Ombudsman refused to consider the complaint as it did not relate to legal work. "