Solicitor admitted misleading billing records and unauthorised client withdrawals over two years
A solicitor who created misleading billing records and authorised the withdrawal of client money without issuing invoices has been struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Mr Devlin admitted acting dishonestly between March 2020 and November 2022 by creating records that misrepresented the time he had spent on client matters.
He also admitted acting without integrity over the same period by “authorising the withdrawal of client monies without having sent corresponding invoices to the relevant client or paying party”.
In submissions during his firm’s internal disciplinary process, Mr Devlin said his actions were driven by pressure to meet billing targets rather than personal financial gain.
“The actions I took were not for personal financial gain, they were to try to keep on or near billing targets,” he said, adding that his workload had increased and he had “struggled to cope”.
“With hindsight I recognise that I should have said something to the firm, but I did not feel strong enough to.”
However, this was challenged by his firm. Jonathan Carroll, director and compliance officer for legal practice at Cartmell Shepherd, told the Solicitors Regulation Authority that Mr Devlin had “never been under undue pressure” and had in fact requested increased fee targets and salary.
He added that the solicitor had been given options to manage his workload, including stopping new work, declining unproductive matters, blocking out his diary and using additional support staff, but had nonetheless sought more work.
The agreed outcome put before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal proposed strike-off, which the tribunal endorsed.
It said: “Given the deliberate and repeated nature of his misconduct, the tribunal concluded that striking off was the only appropriate sanction, there being no exceptional circumstances.”
The tribunal reiterated that dishonesty in financial dealings with clients strikes at the core of the profession and will ordinarily lead to removal from the roll.
Mr Devlin was also ordered to pay £10,000 in costs.