Priyank Tanwar

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

Mr Tanwar, a self-employed consultant solicitor with conduct of private family law (Children Act) proceedings, attended a final contested hearing on 24 August 2023 by telephone from Munich, Germany, despite a court order dated 27 July 2023 requiring in-person attendance. He repeatedly told Recorder O'Grady he was at his firm's office in Ealing, London, when he was actually abroad, only being corrected by opposing counsel. The Tribunal found both allegations proved, including dishonesty under the Ivey test, finding he knew he was not in the UK and deliberately misled the court, and rejecting his explanation that he was conveying his office location to establish his credentials. He also failed to attend in person or arrange a suitable representative. Finding no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal ordered that he be struck off the Roll of Solicitors.

Duties found breached:

• Avoid wasting the court's time
• Honesty
• Integrity
• No improper communication with the court
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• Not mislead the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Misleading the court, regarded as one of the most serious offences an advocate/litigator can commit
• Conduct occurred in sensitive family proceedings concerning the welfare of children at risk of harm
• Repeated/persistent misleading exchanges (misled the court on at least four occasions)
• Caused considerable inconvenience and disruption to the efficient management of the court day