Proskauer Rose.

A former associate at Proskauer Rose has been banned from the profession for gross misconduct and repeated dishonesty towards the firm, a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) hearing has ruled.

Michael Freeman, who worked across the firm's private credit and restructuring practices, told the firm he had taken and passed a firm-funded Certificate for Proficiency in Insolvency (CPI) qualification, when in fact he had never sat the exam.

Freeman then claimed on multiple occasions to partners and members of his team during the course of 2017 and 2018 that he held the qualification.

In February last year, he was approached by his supervisor with requests for the certificate. According to the tribunal findings, he claimed he could not present the certificate – firstly because his house was being redecorated, and then because it was at his ex-fiancee's house.

Finally, when instructed to order a new certificate, he admitted to having failed the exam. Following an internal investigation and suspension, Freeman's employment at Proskauer was terminated in April 2018, six years after he joined the firm as a paralegal.

As well as banning him from the legal profession, the SDT ordered him to pay costs of £9,423. The tribunal also ruled that his actions had "caused harm to the firm", and that although his original dishonesty had been spontaneous, it was "thereafter deliberate, calculated and repeated".

As part of his defence, Freeman denied acting dishonestly, claiming that his actions had been affected by his state of mind, which in turn had been impacted by intense work pressure and a fear of failure.

He alleged that his line manager, an unnamed partner at the firm, often spoke to him in an "aggressive tone and raised voice", at one point telling him to "f**k off up the corridor and become a Lego lawyer, Lego Law".

On another occasion, Freeman claimed that his line manager demanded he prioritise his work over anything else, and that if he didn't like the points he was making, he could "f**k off and cry to HR about it but would never work for [him] again".

Responding to these claims, Freeman's line manager told the tribunal hearing that their team had been through "some extremely challenging times" and that this history meant "it is only healthy and natural that we are able to have open and frank discussions and occasionally we all swear", adding: "I am no exception."

Following his departure from Proskauer, Freeman became a consultant at Ashurst before leaving in October 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. Ashurst confirmed he was employed as on a contract basis during this period.

Freeman's ban follows that of Akin Gump partner Igor Krivoshekov, who was found to have claimed thousands of pounds worth of misused expenses from his firm.

Freeman declined to comment. Proskauer Rose did not respond to requests for comment.