A solicitor who misled the seller’s conveyancer about a £650,000 deposit on a £6.5m property sale and then tried to stop them reporting his conduct to regulators has been struck off by a disciplinary tribunal.

Charles Stevens, who practised with Essex firm Bawtrees LLP, gave an undertaking to immediately send the deposit to the seller’s solicitor by a certain date but had not yet received the funds from his client.

He was reported to have texted the seller before the deadline, claiming the money was “in the system” and gave the false impression it was about to be transferred. In mitigation, he told the tribunal that he thought his client was in the process of transferring it.

Client exposed

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said, however, that Stevens should never have given the undertaking if he knew he had not received the funds, saying the breach exposed his client to the risk of litigation to recover the £650,000.

In subsequent settlement discussions, Stevens then attempted to prevent the seller and their solicitors from taking the matter to the SRA. He emailed them saying his client would agree to a settlement on the basis that: “This matter is then dropped and neither your firm or your clients proceed with any action against me or Bawtrees, including reporting either to the Law Society or the SRA.”

The seller’s solicitor, though, Lynne Goldsby of TWP Solicitors, reported his conduct anyway.

Stevens, who qualified as a solicitor in 2007, denied acting recklessly over the breach of the undertaking and denied attempting to stop the complaint being made to the SRA, claiming he was merely conveying his client’s settlement terms.

The misconduct had not been an isolated incident and brief error of judgment but had involved serious lack of integrity at a very high level on two separate occasions.”

According to the report in the Law Society Gazette, although the motivation for Stevens’ actions remains unclear, the tribunal took a tough line, finding all allegations against him proven.

The tribunal said: “The misconduct had not been an isolated incident and brief error of judgment but had involved a serious lack of integrity at a very high level on two separate occasions, demonstrating a pattern of behaviour and a troubling mindset.

“Undertakings within the context of conveyancing are characterised as providing the bedrock and foundation of the whole system. On a micro-scale, breaches cause disruption and delay to the transaction, stress for the seller and purchaser.”

It concluded that Stevens had: “Failed to self-report the misconduct and instead had taken active steps to prevent the conduct being reported to the SRA, effectively hiding behind his client.”

Stevens was struck off and no order was made for costs based on his limited means.