A Cumbrian solicitor has been struck off after it was discovered he created false records and withdrew clients’ cash without approval.
A Solicitors Disciplinary Hearing heard that between March 2020 and November 2022, Nicholas Devlin, who was working for Cartmell Shepherd, created inaccurate and misleading records.
Devlin was an associate solicitor at the firm’s wills, probate and inheritance team. He no longer works for Cartmell Shepherd.
The hearing heard he moved around £216,000 from clients without permission to pay for work he said he had completed.
The deception was uncovered by the head of department and Cartmell Shepherd notified the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2023, reporting the irregularities.
It had come to light when a member of the debt and recovery team asked Devlin if they could help with as he had 37 aged debts over £55,000.
His head of department notified the firm’s then managing director Peter Stafford. They said: “There is a worrying pattern of billing early on and then not doing the docs and very little on the…matter.”
At an investigation interview held by the firm, Devlin said: “He felt he had become overwhelmed with the workload and had made a stupid decision.
“He said he had recorded the time hoping to get the work done within a week after recording the time, but felt that it had spiralled out of control so didn’t get it done.
“He felt that he was under pressure to make his targets and that was one of the factors, combined with the workload, that led to him making these decisions.”
As part of a disciplinary process, he said there were many times when he felt unable to cope because of ‘conflicting pulls on my time’ including splitting time between offices, supervising support staff and dealing with complex work at the firm’s Rosehill office.
He added: “The actions I took were not for personal financial gain, they were to try to keep on or near billing targets. I have not benefitted from the financial irregularities that I caused.
“I felt my workload was being continuously increased and I struggled to cope. With hindsight I recognise that I should have said something to the firm, but I did not feel strong enough to.”
Cartmell Shepherd said no client was disadvantaged by Devlin’s dishonesty and added: “He has never been under undue pressure and has himself requested
increased fee target.
“He was over various periods authorised to stop taking new work, to stop taking work he saw as disruptive or unproductive, to block out his diary, and to
use additional support staff. Conversely, he has come forward on occasions requesting more work.”
A statement by Cartmell Shepherd said: “The individual is no longer employed by this company. We are aware of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal’s decision.
“We take professional standards and regulatory compliance extremely seriously. We referred him to the SRA for his conduct. We also fully co-operated at all times with the SRA in supporting its investigations and the provision of evidence for the SDT.
“We took immediate action on the client matters at the time too.
“We wish to assure our clients and stakeholders that all the excess time recorded by him was removed from the client files, all client funds that were deducted for that excessive time were fully restored and were and have been fully safeguarded.
“All client services have continued uninterrupted, and we remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of professional conduct across the firm.
“The regulatory side of things is now at an end and an outcome has finally been reached by the SDT. It has taken the SRA a number of years to move this to a conclusion by the SDT which has been out of our control.”
Devlin, who became a solicitor in 2015, was struck off and ordered to pay £10,000 costs.
The hearing was held on March 31 this year and the results published on April 20.
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