Jean Etienne Attala

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

Jean Etienne Attala, an employed senior executive solicitor at Thompsons Solicitors LLP, failed to progress Employment Tribunal proceedings brought on behalf of GMB union members regarding redundancy and notice pay following the closure of a Sunderland site (734 jobs lost). His inactivity led to the proceedings being struck out in November 2011, and a review confirming the strike out (with £4,000 costs awarded against his clients) in March 2012. Over a 13-month period (June 2012 to July 2013) he sent numerous letters and emails to his clients, the Union and his firm falsely stating that the proceedings were progressing, and had earlier misled the ET that he was seeking instructions/gathering evidence. He admitted all allegations including dishonesty. The Tribunal found dishonesty proved under the Twinsectra test on allegations 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4. Despite medical evidence of depression, no exceptional circumstances were found, and he was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay agreed costs of £2,162.

Duties found breached:

• Act in the client's best interests
• Integrity
• No conflict between current clients
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• Not mislead the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession