Vasantha Karalliedde and Anil Sanghani

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

Two solicitors' clerks were the subject of Law Society applications under s.43 Solicitors Act 1974. Karalliedde (not appearing) was found to have falsely described himself as a solicitor and to have failed in his retainer duties and to keep clients informed; a third allegation (failure to report Sanghani's conduct to the SCB/Law Society) was not substantiated as the Tribunal did not consider it a clerk's responsibility. Sanghani (whose adjournment application was refused) was found to have all allegations substantiated, including acting in conflict, borrowing from a client without authority, breaches of the Solicitors Accounts Rules and misuse of clients' funds. The Tribunal did not make an express finding of dishonesty but found Sanghani had failed to grasp fundamental requirements of integrity, probity and trustworthiness and had manipulated clients' money. Both were made subject to s.43 orders restricting their employment, with costs of £1,920 (Karalliedde) and £3,155 (Sanghani).

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage
• Proper termination and return of instructions
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Sanghani was an experienced solicitor's clerk of many years
• Manipulation of lay clients and their money to suit his own ends
• Total disregard for the Solicitors Accounts Rules and the paramountcy of client interests
• Cash shortages on client account (e.g. £37,607.65 and £41,211.15) caused in part by misuse of client funds

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_costs_amount=5075"]