Maria Williams

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

Maria Williams, a consultant solicitor, admitted three episodes of dishonest conduct over a 16-month period: retaining £2,000 of £4,500 cash received from client Ms CS without authority and failing to pay it into client account; altering a counsel's fee note to disguise the true payment date; and asking a colleague to remove the altered fee note from a file destined for the SRA to conceal her wrongdoing. The Tribunal found her admissions properly made, that the first act was motivated by personal gain and the subsequent acts were planned, premeditated and self-serving cover-ups. The conduct was incompatible with her remaining on the Roll. She was struck off and ordered to pay £3,678 costs.

Duties found breached:

• No conflict between current clients
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Three episodes of dishonest conduct over a 16-month period
• First incident motivated by personal gain and desire to deprive client account of funds
• Subsequent acts intended to cover up the initial dishonesty
• Conduct was planned and premeditated
• Conduct was self-serving
• Caused irreparable harm to the reputation of the legal profession
• Had a previous Tribunal sanction (2 February 2006)