Tribunal hears hale let non-solicitors misuse £8.3m Axiom Funds under his name
Christopher Tomos Hale, a solicitor once entrusted with overseeing a law firm, is now at the centre of a disciplinary storm after regulators accused him of allowing more than £8.3 million in Axiom Fund money to be misused under his watch.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) heard that Hale, who was admitted to the Roll in 2000, had failed to maintain control of the firm Rohrer & Co, enabling non-solicitors to exercise improper authority. Regulators claim that Hale’s failure to act left the door wide open for financial abuse of staggering proportions.
At the heart of the case lies the Axiom Legal Financing Fund, a Cayman Islands investment vehicle promoted as a means of bankrolling litigation in the UK. By 2012, more than £100 million had been invested into the scheme by individuals lured with the promise of steady profits through short-term loans to law firms. Hale’s firm became one of its beneficiaries.
Embed from Getty ImagesBetween 2011 and 2012, more than £8.3 million was funnelled into the firm. Tribunal papers state that, instead of being deployed strictly for “eligible legal expenses” as required, huge portions of the cash were siphoned to companies linked to non-solicitors who appeared to be pulling strings behind the scenes.
Among the alleged misuses was the transfer of over £1.4 million to entities controlled by Mr and Mrs H, who were neither solicitors nor properly authorised to direct the firm. Another £3 million, intended to fund a client’s divorce proceedings, was diverted to a Swiss bank account through a complex web of offshore structures. Hale later admitted to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) that he had little idea where the funds actually went.
The tribunal also heard that extravagant sums were blown on “consultancy fees,” overseas conferences and even a training event in the French Alps organised by associates of the Axiom network. Rent, running costs, and unexplained transfers made up further drains on the fund, leaving investors exposed and the firm drowning in debt.
By 2013, the Axiom Fund itself had collapsed into receivership, with more than £100 million in investor money at risk. Civil proceedings were launched against individuals accused of orchestrating the scheme, while Hale’s firm faced intervention by the SRA.
Regulators say Hale knew, or at the very least should have known, that the agreements governing the loans were being breached. He had signed documentation obliging him to use the money only for strict purposes, but instead allowed others to raid the funds unchecked. The SDT described his conduct as reckless, lacking integrity, and utterly corrosive to public trust in the legal profession.
The allegations go beyond simple mismanagement. Hale is accused of acting dishonestly after August 2012, when reports began surfacing about the questionable nature of Axiom and its management. Despite mounting evidence, he continued to permit funds to pass through the firm in transactions that bore the hallmarks of fraud, according to tribunal papers.
Hale, who represented himself before the tribunal, admitted to serious lapses but argued that he had not deliberately set out to deceive. He painted a picture of a solicitor overwhelmed by the influence of powerful non-solicitors and swept along by a tide of financial deals he barely understood.
The SDT, however, found that the sums involved, the duration of the misconduct, and the scale of the harm caused left little room for excuses. More than £8.3 million had been misapplied, leaving investors, clients and the reputation of the legal profession badly damaged.
The tribunal will now determine sanctions, with striking off the Roll a likely outcome given the severity of the findings. The case stands as one of the most striking examples of how regulatory failings and unscrupulous financial schemes can combine to devastate both investors and the standing of solicitors in public life.