Decisions

The SDT ordered that the respondent should be suspended from practice as a solicitor for 12 months from 19 June 2025. 

While in practice as a solicitor at Talbots Law Ltd, on 18 July 2023, the respondent had provided misleading information in an email to client A by inserting client A’s correct email address in substitution for the incorrect email address in the email he had originally sent to Client A on 17 July 2023, thereby breaching principles 2, 4 and 5 of the SRA Principles 2019 and paragraph 1.4 of the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs.

The parties had invited the SDT to deal with the allegations against the respondent in accordance with the statement of agreed facts and outcome annexed to the judgment.

The SDT had reviewed all the material before it and was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the respondent’s admissions had been properly made.

Having accepted the respondent’s admission of dishonesty, absent exceptional circumstances the SDT would be required to order him to be struck off the roll. 

The respondent’s dishonesty had been confined solely to one element of a single email, the alteration of the email address. Critically, the message sent to the client was not misleading.

Ultimately, the client had suffered no detriment, and the transaction had remained unaffected. No client funds had been involved, and the dishonesty had not related to the substance of the client’s matter. No harm had been caused to any party, and no actual harm had resulted from the respondent’s conduct.

The SDT had concluded that exceptional circumstances did exist in this case, given the nature and scope of the misconduct and the broader contextual factors surrounding the case. Accordingly, bearing in mind the seriousness of the misconduct, the appropriate sanction would be a suspension from practice for a period of 12 months.

The respondent was ordered to pay costs of £12,500.