When does dishonest conduct in the solicitors’ profession not lead to strike-off? Jessica Clay & Lucinda Soon consider some exceptional circumstances
- Save in exceptional circumstances, a finding of dishonesty will lead to a solicitor being struck off the roll.
- If exceptional circumstances are found, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal will however consider issuing a less severe sanction.
- What amounts to exceptional circumstances will vary on a case-by-case basis, but will ultimately depend on the nature, scope and extent of the dishonesty.
Where a solicitor is found to have acted dishonestly, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) will invariably order that the solicitor is struck off from the roll (see for example Bolton v Law Society [1994] 2 All ER 486 and Salsbury v Law Society [2008] EWCA Civ 1285, [2008] All ER (D) 240 (Nov)).
However, this general rule is not always applied and, in some cases, the SDT has found allegations of dishonesty proved but has nonetheless reasoned that a strike-off sanction would be disproportionate to the particular circumstances
