Naresh Trivedi

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

Naresh Trivedi, admitted 1984, was instructed in about 1993 on a medical negligence claim. He delayed and lost the file, and the limitation period expired in June 1995. He failed to tell his client (Mr MM) the file was lost or the claim was statute barred. Instead he deceived the client into believing the claim was ongoing - sending him for medical investigation and representing that the hospital trust had made settlement offers (£3,000 rising to £7,500), including a letter and settlement statement falsely framing payment as settlement of the negligence claim against the hospital. He admitted all four allegations. The Tribunal expressly found he acted dishonestly with deliberate, premeditated deception, while noting an otherwise unblemished career, ill health, and testimonials. He was struck off and ordered to pay £9,000 costs.

Duties found breached:

• Advise on alternatives, settlement and outcome
• No own-interest conflict
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper solicitation or touting

Aggravating factors:

• Premeditated act of sending the client for medical inspection while knowing the claim was statute barred
• Deliberate decision to pursue a course of action involving misleading the client
• Conflict between his own interest (minimising claim against him) and the client's interest

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted all allegations
• Hitherto unblemished career over many years
• Positive written testimonials attesting to integrity and competence
• Suffered ill health with debilitating effect
• Conduct related to a single set of facts over a narrow period
• Firm merger/reorganisation context in which file was lost
• Already paid £3,000 professional services award and met indemnity insurance claim