UK Lawyer Fined for Cashing Client Money Before Sending Bills
The former Irwin Mitchell solicitor was rebuked by UK watchdog the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
May 01, 2020 at 06:13 AM
2 minute read
A former Irwin Mitchell solicitor has been rebuked by the U.K.'s Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for transferring funds from client accounts to the firm before bills had been issued.
Benjamin Saunders, who left the firm in 2017 according to his LinkedIn profile, was found to have transferred funds to the firm's office account to pay bills that had not yet been sent to the client, according to the regulator's filing.
The filing continues: "There was either a delay in the bill being sent or the bill was not sent at all. In most cases the costs were transferred on the date the bill was raised."
A total of nine client matters have been identified where this was the case, bringing the bills to a total of £60,316 between 2014 and 2017.
The filing states that the shortest delay in sending the bill after the costs were transferred was five days, while the longest delay took three years.
In one of the nine matters, the client complained to Irwin Mitchell, and "in order to resolve the complaint, the firm wrote off two of the bills totalling £304.40″.
The regulator said in the filing that Saunders had "failed to act in the best interests of his clients" and to "to provide a proper standard of service to clients". As a result, the SRA rebuked him and ordered him to pay costs of £600.
A spokesperson for Irwin Mitchell said in a statement: "We self-reported this breach to the SRA and resolved any issues with clients as soon as possible. We have robust audit and supervision processes in place to monitor our regulatory responsibilities."
Benjamin Saunders did not respond to requests for comment.
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