Leo McGarvey

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

Leo McGarvey, a solicitor employed by RGM Solicitors from 2009-2018, was found guilty of professional misconduct for fraudulently taking cash payments from clients (approx £5,500 from Janet Brand between 2011-2017; £314 from client MD in 2017 which he failed to bank, along with delayed registration of a Power of Attorney; and £200 from client ZC in 2017), none of which was lodged with the firm. He had been convicted of embezzlement (£7,016) at Falkirk Sheriff Court and jailed for ten months. The Tribunal (proceeding in his absence) made an express finding of dishonesty applying the Ivey test, found breaches of Rules B1.2, B1.4, B1.9 and B6.3, and ordered that he be struck off the Roll of Solicitors. He was found liable for the expenses of the Complainers and the Tribunal (amount to be taxed), with publicity ordered. Certain other allegations (Incidents 2 and 3) were found not established beyond reasonable doubt.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Honesty
• Act in the client's best interests
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonest, criminal behaviour (criminal conviction for embezzlement of £7,016 with ten-month custodial sentence)
• No remorse or insight shown
• Ongoing course of conduct involving a number of clients
• Conduct was a danger to the public and likely to seriously damage the reputation of the profession

Mitigating factors:

• No previous findings on the Respondent's record card