Michael Carl Lillywhite

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

Michael Carl Lillywhite, a fixed share partner at George Green LLP, faced two allegations. In Allegation 1.1 (Client A), he created and backdated a Memorandum of Appropriation to 13 December 2022 (executed 13 February 2023) to make it appear signed before completion of a property sale, with CGT implications. In Allegation 1.2 (Client B), he sent a misleading email on 3 March 2023 concealing that a draft Will had been sent to the client's old address. The Tribunal, applying Ivey, found dishonesty proved on both allegations, along with lack of integrity and misleading conduct. Although there was no personal gain or direct harm, and the Respondent had unblemished record and medical evidence of depression/anxiety, the Tribunal found no exceptional circumstances and struck him off the Roll.

Duties found breached:

• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty comprised two separate incidents involving different clients
• Allegation 1.1 involved planning and was sustained over a period of days, not momentary
• The two dishonest acts occurred within weeks of each other demonstrating a pattern of concealment
• Backdating involved a tax-sensitive document that could have misled HMRC, the beneficiary and colleagues

Mitigating factors:

• Misconduct occurred within a short defined period in early 2023
• No personal or financial benefit derived; no client or third party suffered actual loss
• Uncontested medical evidence of depression, anxiety and impaired judgment at the relevant time
• Conduct was out of character during a period of personal and professional stress
• Demonstrated stability and rehabilitation since 2023
• 14 years of practice with otherwise unblemished record and good character references
• Cooperated with investigation, made admissions and expressed remorse