Former DAC Beachcroft and Slater & Gordon Paralegals Banned From Profession
The duo are the latest to be penalised as the SRA continues to crack down on junior lawyers' behaviour.
June 19, 2020 at 08:36 AM
4 minute read
Solicitors Regulation Authority
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has banned a former DAC Beachcroft paralegal for alleged "dishonesty" and a former Slater & Gordon paralegal for a conviction for alleged fraud, two filings on the SRA website have revealed.
Talwinder Jason Purewal, who was a paralegal in DAC Beachcroft's Birmingham office from July 2017 until November 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile, was banned from the profession in May 2020 and ordered to pay £600 in costs after the regulator found him guilty of "dishonesty".
During his time at the firm, he allegedly submitted a client's signed amended statement knowing the client had not signed the amended statement themselves. When asked the next day whether the client had signed the amended statement, he said the client had signed "a statement".
The SRA argued that, his response to the question was "deliberately opaque and an attempt to obfuscate the true position" in its decision filing, published June 18.
The filing reads: "The defendant's solicitors' question was crystal clear and required a clear response. Mr. Purewal did not give a clear response. He allowed the defendant's solicitors to be misled as to the true position, which was misleading and is a failure to act with integrity."
Purewal joined Shakespeare Martineau as a litigation paralegal in February 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile, but no longer works at the firm, it has confirmed.
A spokesperson at Shakespeare Martineau said: "As soon as we were notified by the SRA, we took immediate action. Mr. Purewal is no longer an employee of the firm."
DAC Beachcroft declined to comment on the matter. Purewal did not respond to request for comment.
The SRA has also banned a former Slater & Gordon paralegal for allegedly settling a client's personal injury claim "without seeking the client's instruction and without the client's knowledge".
The SRA claimed in its filing published June 18 that the paralegal, Angela Drinkwater, "then paid this client's settlement monies to two other, unassociated clients."
According to the filing, the firm reported the matter to the SRA in December 2017 and to the police upon discovering her actions. In November 2018, Drinkwater was convicted of fraud by abuse of position at Liverpool Crown Court.
She was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended by 24 months. She was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitative activity and required to pay a victim surcharge of £140.
The SRA subsequently banned her from the profession and ordered her to pay £300 in costs.
A spokesperson for Slater and Gordon said: "We reported Ms Drinkwater to the police and the SRA immediately after this was uncovered as a result of our internal processes and procedures. We actively cooperated and worked with both the SRA and the police and that led to her conviction."
The duo are among several junior lawyers to be banned by the SRA in recent years.
In April, former Capsticks solicitor Claire Matthews lost her licence to practice after she lost a briefcase of sensitive documents relating to an ongoing SRA case and then allegedly lied about their whereabouts.
Matthews has since launched a High Court appeal against her conviction, and started a GoFundMe to help cover her legal fees for the High Court case.
Read More:
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