Daniel Jones
Allegation / charges
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2019
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
Daniel Jones, a solicitor and former Partner/Head of Family Law at Berryman's Lace Mawer LLP, was alleged to have misled his client Person A into believing he had lodged a Decree Nisi application in October/November 2019, when it was not actually filed until November 2020. The Tribunal found the application was significantly delayed and Person A suffered real anxiety and distress affecting her health. However, it found the Respondent genuinely (though mistakenly) believed the application had been lodged, relying on delegation to junior staff. The Tribunal found NO dishonesty, NO lack of integrity, and NO recklessness, and did not find a breach of Paragraph 1.4 of the Code of Conduct. It found breaches of Principles 2 and 7 reflecting a failure of oversight/supervision rather than deliberate misconduct. A Level 1 fine of £1,500 was imposed.
Duties found breached:
Mitigating factors:
- Otherwise unblemished/spotless regulatory record
- No intention to mislead or obtain personal advantage
- Extraordinary personal pressures including wife's difficult pregnancy and birth of daughter
- COVID-19 pandemic and remote working arrangements
- Heavy workload across multiple offices in a rapidly growing department
- Good character references from barristers attesting to honesty
- Health issues
Codes & rules applied
Duties engaged
- Act only on proper, lawful instructions
- Advise on alternatives, settlement and outcome
- Avoid wasting the court's time
- Cease acting on client perjury or disobedience
- Client-care and engagement terms
- Client confidentiality
- Competence
- Complaints procedure and handling
- Comply with and respect court orders
- Comply with rules of foreign jurisdictions
- Continuity and handover of representation
- Cooperate openly with regulators
- Costs and fee transparency to client
- Diligence and timeliness
- Disclose adverse law to the court
- Disclose material information to client
- Disclose referrals, commissions and benefits
- Fair dealing with unrepresented parties
- Fair, reasonable and lawful fees
- Full disclosure on ex parte applications
- Good faith and courtesy to colleagues
- Handle inadvertently received material
- Hold a current practising certificate
- Honour professional undertakings
- Keep client informed and respond promptly
- Maintain competence and CPD
- Manage conflict arising mid-matter
- No abuse of process or coercive powers
- No acting against a former client
- No baseless or threatened misconduct report
- No conflict between current clients
- No direct dealing with represented party
- No improper benefit, loan or bequest
- No improper communication with the court
- No improper fee-sharing or partnership
- No improper questioning of witnesses
- No improper solicitation or touting
- Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
- No obstruction or victimisation of reporters
- No own-interest conflict
- No payments to witnesses on evidence
- No personal opinion or familiarity with court
- No prejudicial publicity for pending cases
- No standing bail or surety for client
- No taking unfair advantage
- No tampering with or coaching witnesses
- Not mislead the court
- Not mislead third parties or opponents
- Not misrepresent regulated status
- Pay instructed practitioners and agents
- Professional indemnity insurance
- Proper basis for allegations
- Proper termination and return of instructions
- Prosecutorial duty of disclosure
- Prosecutorial fairness and impartiality
- Protect capacity and vulnerable clients
- Protect legal professional privilege
- Report serious misconduct of others
- Safeguard documents and limit liens
- Self-report to the regulator
- Truthful, non-misleading advertising