George Stephenson

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

George Stephenson, a sole practitioner admitted in 1964, faced six allegations of conduct unbefitting a solicitor following an OSS inspection. He transferred client funds for costs (£7,170) without delivering bills, leaving a client account shortage; failed to honour two professional undertakings; accepted instructions from a struck off solicitor (Mr Seward) without written client instructions; acted despite a conflict of interest; and withdrew client funds without instructions. The Tribunal found all allegations substantiated but expressly accepted the Respondent had NOT behaved dishonestly—the matters reflected muddle and failure to comply with technical requirements. Given his prior 1993 disciplinary record and continued misdirection, the Tribunal suspended him indefinitely to protect the public and ordered costs of £6,148.89.

Duties found breached:

• Act only on proper, lawful instructions
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• No improper solicitation or touting

Aggravating factors:

• Previous 1993 Tribunal finding for deliberate misuse of clients' money and false book entries (penalty of £6,000)
• Accepted instructions from and disbursed funds at the direction of a struck off solicitor
• Disbursed client funds in a cavalier manner
• Unacceptable and shifting explanations

Mitigating factors:

• Sums transferred represented proper charges for work actually undertaken
• No dishonesty found
• Long career as a solicitor (admitted 1964)