Solicitor may practise only as an employee and cannot hold client money or management roles
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has terminated the suspension of Mohammad Munshat Habib Chowdhury’s practising certificate, subject to a series of restrictions on how he may practise.
The decision, published on 1 June, follows the SRA’s intervention into Lawyer Up Group (UK) LLP on 24 December 2025, which automatically triggered the suspension of Mr Chowdhury’s 2025/26 practising certificate.
According to the regulator, Mr Chowdhury successfully applied for the suspension to be lifted under section 16(4) of the Solicitors Act 1974.
The SRA said it was satisfied that neither the statutory considerations in the SRA Authorisation of Individuals Regulations nor the wider regulatory objectives under the Legal Services Act 2007 made it necessary, in the public interest, to refuse the application.
However, the practising certificate remains subject to significant conditions.
Under the restrictions, Mr Chowdhury cannot act as a manager or owner of an authorised practice, nor may he serve as a compliance officer for legal practice (COLP) or compliance officer for finance and administration (COFA).
He may practise only as an employee in SRA-approved employment and is prohibited from holding or receiving client money, acting as a signatory on client or office accounts, or authorising transfers from such accounts.
The regulator said the conditions were necessary, reasonable and proportionate in the public interest, having regard to the regulatory purposes set out in the SRA’s authorisation framework and the statutory objectives governing legal services regulation.