Stuart Nuttall

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Mr Stuart Nuttall, a solicitor without a practising certificate at the relevant time, faced three allegations. He obtained a £5,000 corporate loan by impersonating his co-director and electronically forging that director's signature as guarantor; he falsely represented to Counsel's clerk that fees of £1,200 had been paid when they had not; and he failed to co-operate with the SRA's investigation between July 2020 and September 2021 while remaining active in litigation. The Tribunal proceeded in his absence, found all allegations proved, and made express findings of dishonesty (applying Ivey) in respect of the first two allegations. Finding no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered costs of £7,603.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• Diligence and timeliness
• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct was financially motivated, calculated and deliberate
• Impersonation of a fellow director and falsification of his signature
• Made false representation to Counsel's clerk about payment of fees
• Prolonged failure to co-operate with the SRA while actively engaged in litigation

Mitigating factors:

• Unblemished regulatory record
• Admitted wrongdoing to loan company and offered to indemnify co-director (though short of admitting dishonesty)