Laura Simpson lied to the client about the expert report, then admitted dishonesty before the tribunal.
A solicitor who admitted lying to her client to buy herself more time has been struck off the roll after confessing she had “chickened out” of telling the truth.
Laura Simpson, formerly with national firm Switalskis, was accused of dishonesty when she misled her client about an expert report that undermined the strength of their claim. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) heard how Simpson falsely insisted the report had not yet arrived, despite having received it weeks earlier.
The deception unravelled when the client contacted Simpson’s secretary, who confirmed the report had already been sent. The client complained to Switalskis, which escalated the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
Embed from Getty ImagesThe case went before the SDT last month. Simpson, admitted to the profession in 2009, confessed to dishonesty and accepted she should no longer practise as a solicitor.
The tribunal was told Simpson had been handling the case for about a year when the expert report landed on her desk in June 2023. The assessment cast serious doubt on whether the client’s claim could succeed. Instead of sharing the bad news, Simpson sent an email telling the client the report was expected “imminently”.
In another message, she claimed she was “still chasing” the expert and would keep pressing for the report before updating the client. The charade collapsed when the client, frustrated at delays, called the firm directly and learnt from Simpson’s secretary that the report had been sitting with the solicitor for eight weeks.
When confronted by Switalskis’ compliance officer, Simpson admitted she had lied to the client, hoping the issue would “go unnoticed” until she had time to consider the report properly. At an internal disciplinary hearing, she conceded her actions had been a “stupid thing to do” but said she had wanted to “buy herself some time”.
By the time of the SDT hearing, Simpson had already ceased practising, having left the profession in February. She told the tribunal she did not intend to return. In mitigation, she cited a heavy caseload of complex claims, apologised for her behaviour, and admitted it was “completely unacceptable”.
The tribunal noted her dishonesty was not an impulsive slip but a “planned” act, designed to delay giving difficult advice to what Simpson described as a “challenging” client. It said her conduct represented a breach of the fundamental trust placed in solicitors and had inflicted direct harm.
The client described the stress of waiting for the report and said being lied to had damaged their mental health and wellbeing.
The SRA sought costs of £30,000, but the tribunal ruled this excessive. It accepted £5,000 of investigative costs but rejected the fixed fee billed by legal adviser Blake Morgan. Taking Simpson’s means into account, the SDT ordered her to pay £3,000 in costs.
In its ruling, the tribunal concluded that striking Simpson off was the only proportionate sanction for her dishonesty. Despite her admissions and apologies, it said her deliberate misleading of a client was fundamentally incompatible with continued practice in the legal profession.
For Simpson, once a solicitor of 16 years, the decision ends her career. For her former client, it closes a painful episode marked not only by the collapse of a claim but by the betrayal of trust from the very lawyer meant to protect their interests.