Former RFB legal partner accused of publishing near-identical article to another solicitor’s work
A partner at a London law firm has been accused of plagiarism after publishing an article that closely resembled work previously written by another solicitor.
Geoff Karikari, now a partner at Ackroyd Legal, is alleged to have reproduced large sections of an article originally authored by Stephen Sidkin, a partner at Fox Williams, without attribution. The allegations concern a piece Karikari published on 7 July 2025 while he was employed by RFB Legal, where he headed the firm’s corporate and commercial department.
The article, which discussed the potential impact on franchising law of the case APK Communications Ltd & Others v Vodafone Ltd, appeared on RFB Legal’s website and was attributed to Karikari. Sidkin’s original article on the same subject had been published two weeks earlier, on 26 June 2025, on the Fox Williams website.
According to a source familiar with the matter, sections of Karikari’s article were “almost identical” to Sidkin’s, apart from minor changes. A comparison of the two pieces reportedly showed near-verbatim passages across several paragraphs.
Embed from Getty Images
When contacted by RollOnFriday, Afsheen Nasr, Managing Partner at RFB Legal, said the firm had not been aware of the issue before publication. “Geoffrey Karikari was employed as a Senior Associate and head of our corporate/commercial department when his article was published,” she said. “He is no longer employed by our firm and we have taken steps to remove this article from our website and any other publications.”
Fox Williams declined to comment on the allegations. Karikari did not respond to requests for comment.
Ackroyd Legal, where Karikari is currently a partner, has also faced past disputes over brand identity. The firm was originally launched under the name Stirling Ackroyd Legal, prompting legal action from the Stirling Ackroyd Group, which claimed the new business was using its brand without consent. The dispute resulted in two High Court orders requiring Ackroyd Legal to comply with the terms of a settlement agreement.
The incident adds to a series of recent cases in which plagiarism or misrepresentation allegations have arisen within the legal profession. In 2024, a Withers associate left the firm after it was discovered she had failed to disclose a prior university plagiarism sanction, and in 2022 a trial had to be reheard after a judge was found to have copied sections of a ruling from the claimant’s submissions.
While no formal disciplinary proceedings have been reported against Karikari, the allegations have prompted renewed discussion about professional ethics, authorship, and reputation within the legal sector.
Both the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the affected firms have so far declined to indicate whether the matter will be referred for further investigation.
A Spokesperson for Geoff Karikari said:
Mr Karikari strongly refutes any suggestion that he intentionally plagiarised material.
As part of his role at RFB, he was asked by the firm’s marketing department to produce regular articles and website copy, which were subsequently subject to editing and search-engine optimisation after submission. He was not always involved in every stage of the editing process, and did not have final editorial control over what was uploaded or when. He does not believe the final version of the article was the initial draft he prepared for publication.
Mr Karikari sincerely regrets not exercising greater oversight to ensure the final version met the professional standards expected of him and has written to Stephen Sidkin and Fox Williams to apologise for any harm caused