Roger Patrick Diavewa

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

Mr Diavewa, an unadmitted paralegal, was made subject to a s43 Order by an SRA Adjudicator on 10 September 2020, which included an express finding that he had acted dishonestly (misleading the Upper Tribunal via a backdated letter and receiving client funds into his personal account). He applied to the Tribunal for review and revocation on three grounds: failure to weigh the supervising solicitor's defaults, bias by the Adjudicator, and improper/premature publication. The Tribunal (conducting a review, not re-hearing) rejected all three grounds, finding the Adjudicator applied the correct civil standard and was entitled to reach the findings made. The application to revoke was refused and the s43 Order confirmed. The Applicant was ordered to pay costs of £3,000.

Duties found breached:

• Cease acting on client perjury or disobedience
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• Not mislead the court
• Prompt accounting and return of money

Aggravating factors:

• Lack of insight, attempting to deflect blame onto the supervising solicitor
• Misuse of client funds exceeding £2,800 paid into his personal account
• Attempt to mislead a court/tribunal by backdating documents