Leon Daniel

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

Leon Daniel, a non-solicitor clerk employed by Bankside Law Limited, was disbarred as a barrister in February 2001 but failed to inform his employers, allowing them to continue describing him as a non-practising barrister and to charge him out at the higher Grade A rate on publicly funded work. When initially questioned he denied being disbarred, later admitting it at a June 2003 meeting and receiving a formal warning. The Tribunal found all allegations substantiated, holding he had not been frank with his employers who were misled into giving an inaccurate description of his status and making inappropriate claims on public funds. The Respondent did not appear or participate. The Tribunal made a section 43 order controlling his future employment and ordered him to pay costs of £1,907.95. No express finding of dishonesty was made.

Duties found breached:

• Personal probity and fitness to practise
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• Honour professional undertakings

Aggravating factors:

• Initially denied his disbarment when questioned by employers
• Caused inappropriate claims to be made on public funds
• Failed to respond to Law Society correspondence and did not participate in proceedings