SDT finds solicitor attempted to withdraw intelligence complaints about a former client in pursuit of unpaid fees
A Swiss solicitor has been suspended from practice for two years after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found he deliberately breached anonymity orders imposed by immigration tribunals and published material identifying former clients despite court-ordered restrictions.
In SRA v Matthew Thomas Parish, the tribunal upheld allegations brought by the Solicitors Regulation Authority that Dr Matthew Thomas Parish breached professional obligations by publishing tribunal decisions and press releases containing information capable of identifying protected individuals.
The tribunal found that Dr Parish published decisions of the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal concerning an asylum applicant subject to an anonymity order in circumstances where contextual information including nationality, employment history and family details made identification possible. It concluded that the anonymity order required protection of identity “in substance, not just removing the name”, and that the publication created a risk of harm to the individual concerned.
The tribunal rejected Dr Parish’s submission that replacing the individual’s name with initials was sufficient to comply with the order, describing that interpretation as untenable given the clear wording and purpose of the direction.
A further allegation concerned press releases published on the website of Gentium Law Group SARL relating to former clients despite the existence of a Swiss court order prohibiting publication of information capable of identifying them. The tribunal found that the material included sufficient contextual detail to enable identification and therefore breached the order.
The tribunal emphasised that members of the public would expect solicitors to comply with court orders even where they disagreed with them and concluded that the conduct brought the profession into disrepute and lacked integrity.
Separately, the tribunal found that Dr Parish had offered to retract complaints he had made to UK, US and EU intelligence bodies concerning a former client’s conduct in pursuit of payment of outstanding fees, which formed part of the misconduct findings.
However, an allegation that he acted improperly by threatening legal action against another firm after it reported his conduct to the regulator was not proved.
In determining sanction, the tribunal said the misconduct was deliberate, repeated and caused harm to former clients while also placing a protected asylum applicant and their family at risk through publication of identifying information. It concluded that lesser sanctions would be insufficient to maintain public confidence in the profession and ordered a two-year suspension from practice.
Parish was the manager and owner of Gentium Law Group SARL, a foreign law practice not regulated by the SRA, which closed in 2018. Parish has not held a practising certificate since 2018.
The SRA applied for costs of £128,551.20, which the tribunal considered following its findings on misconduct and sanction.