Wills: Removed without barrister’s knowledge
An experienced barrister has been fined £5,000 by a Bar disciplinary tribunal, after he failed to report an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) into the removal of 242 wills from a law firm he owned.
The tribunal found that Amjad Hussain did not know what had happened to the wills, but he should have reported to the Bar Standards Board (BSB) the fact that the SRA, which regulated Saffron Solicitors, had raised serious misconduct allegations against him.
He was an owner and manager at the Nottingham-based firm, an alternative business structure (ABS), where he also held the compliance officer roles.
The tribunal said there was a nine-month gap between the SRA notifying Mr Hussain about the allegations and his first report to the BSB – which “related to the outcome of the SRA investigation and not to the inception of it”.
In September 2021, the SRA disqualified Mr Hussain from being a manager or compliance officer at any ABS it regulated.
This followed an investigation into the removal of the wills and also the names and addresses of over 11,000 clients.
The SRA notice said Mr Hussain failed to keep client information confidential, breached the accounts rules – by failing to ensure all the firm’s dealings with client money were properly recorded and that compliant client account reconciliations were undertaken – and failed to report rule breaches to the regulator.
The tribunal said the barrister reported this to the BSB almost three months later, by which time, unbeknownst to him, the SRA had itself notified its counterpart.
He demonstrated “insight and remorse” in self-reporting but the “delay in complying with his professional responsibilities would adversely impact upon the confidence that the public is entitled to have in the profession of barristers”.
The tribunal found that it was Mr Hussain’s “first transgression in a lengthy career” and he had been “careless with respect to his obligations towards the BSB”.
His failure “could reasonably be seen by the public to undermine his integrity”, but his “culpability was assessed as moderate and any harm was limited”. The tribunal fined Mr Hussain £5,000 for this offence.
He was reprimanded for a further offence of failing to report the SRA decision and again for accepting roles at Saffron without taking “proper steps to acquaint himself with the responsibilities that he was taking on”.
As a result, there were “no adequate systems in place at Saffron to protect client confidentiality” and the removal of the wills was a serious breach, although there was “no actual data breach” and, after an inquiry, the Information Commissioner decided to take no action.
The tribunal said the wills were removed without the barrister knowing, and when he found out they were quickly returned to the office. There was low culpability and no harm.
Mr Hussain received a third reprimand for failing to “acquaint himself with the duties that he was assuming” as a manager and compliance officer at Saffron.
The barrister admitted the charges against him, apart from four allegations of failing to act with integrity. The tribunal upheld only the first of these, relating to not telling the BSB about the SRA investigation.
The tribunal said Mr Hussain was “contrite and had co-operated fully with BSB and the tribunal in the disciplinary process”.
He was ordered to pay costs of £2,670.
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