David Rudolph Heinrich

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

The Respondent, a solicitor, was found to have submitted a Notice of Acting to Cardiff County Court in the name of Gareth Emery's firm and held himself out as a consultant of that firm when no consultancy arrangement existed, knowing this to be untrue. He prepared a misleading client care letter and held himself out wrongly as a consultant. The Tribunal found these actions dishonest by the Twinsectra test in respect of allegations 1.1-1.4. The misappropriation and failure to cooperate allegations were not proved. The Tribunal found breaches of core duties and lack of integrity, and ordered the Respondent struck off the Roll with costs of £25,000. His subsequent appeal to the High Court was withdrawn.

Duties found breached:

• Act only on proper, lawful instructions
• Handle inadvertently received material
• No conflict between current clients
• No taking unfair advantage
• Proper basis for allegations

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty was not an aberration but pursued over a considerable period
• Misled a court
• Continued deception over a period of months
• Showed no insight into his misconduct
• Was an unreliable and evasive witness
• Took advantage of lay client Mr Forward in demanding payment

Mitigating factors:

• No previous disciplinary findings
• Apologised for his conduct
• Was bankrupt