Julie Margaret Holdaway

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

The Respondent, a non-practising solicitor, gave false information about her employment status during an interview with Kew Law LLP on 16 May 2019 and to a recruitment agency, claiming she was still employed by her previous firm (with a one month notice period and £34,000 salary) when in fact she had been dismissed six months earlier due to poor attendance. The Tribunal found Allegations 1.1 and 1.2 proved (breaches of Principles 2 and 6) and expressly found her conduct dishonest under the Ivey test. Finding no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal ordered she be struck off and pay costs of £2,000. The hearing proceeded in her absence.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonest conduct that was deliberate and calculated
• Misconduct persisted over a number of weeks
• Not immediately open or forthcoming with explanation
• Lack of genuine insight, no frank admissions, little cooperation with regulator

Mitigating factors:

• Solicitor of twenty years' standing with previously unblemished record
• Explained she was too embarrassed to admit the real reason she left her previous firm