John Michael Malins

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

John Michael Malins, a construction litigation solicitor, created a backdated Form N251 (Notice of Funding) and covering letter on 2 May 2014, dated 19 March 2013, to support recovery of a £181,682 ATE insurance premium after opponents (HD) disputed service. He then relied on and acquiesced in colleagues relying on these backdated documents in costs negotiations from May to October 2014. The Tribunal found allegations 1.1 and 1.2 proved (lack of integrity, breach of Principles 2 and 6) and allegation 1.3 proved with dishonesty (breach of Principles 1, 2 and 6). Rejecting his claim that he honestly believed he had served the documents in 2013, the Tribunal found no exceptional circumstances and struck him off, ordering costs of £19,000. An SRA appeal to the Court of Appeal ([2018] EWCA Civ 366) later upheld the Tribunal's order.

Duties found breached:

• No abuse of process or coercive powers
• Proper basis for allegations
• No taking unfair advantage
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate creation of two backdated documents (Form N251 and covering letter) using a predecessor firm's letterhead template
• Repeated reliance on the backdated documents over approximately five months in formal correspondence to obtain a favourable costs settlement
• Ample time to reflect and correct the position but failed to do so
• Began interactions with colleagues about the documents with a lie

Mitigating factors:

• No previous disciplinary matters
• Full engagement with proceedings
• Personal and family health issues during summer 2014 (accepted as personal mitigation but not exceptional circumstances)
• Firm ensured client did not suffer loss