John Fraser Tait

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

John Fraser Tait, a solicitor partner at Tait Macleod in Falkirk, was found guilty of professional misconduct for failing for six months to provide the SLCC with a copy of a client file needed to investigate a complaint, despite requests on 17 May and 10 June 2021. He only sent the file after the SLCC commenced Court of Session recovery proceedings. The Tribunal found this a serious and reprehensible departure from the standards of competent solicitors and a breach of Rule B1.9.1. He admitted misconduct via Joint Minute. The Tribunal censured him, fined him £1,500, and found him liable for expenses. No dishonesty was found.

Duties found breached:

• No baseless or threatened misconduct report
• No improper communication with the court

Aggravating factors:

• Previous finding of professional misconduct (2015) for analogous communication/responsiveness matters
• Six-month delay in providing the file
• SLCC had to commence Court of Session proceedings before the Respondent cooperated
• Misconduct likely to damage the reputation of the profession and delayed resolution of the complaint, contrary to the public interest

Mitigating factors:

• Favourable references from eminent members of the profession
• Difficulties faced as a sole practitioner during the pandemic and the effect on his health
• Cooperated with the Fiscal and Tribunal; attended the hearing and entered into a Joint Minute
• Paid compensation of £3,500 to the Secondary Complainer and reduced fees by 75%
• Paid the expenses of the Court of Session action
• Demonstrated insight; reorganised practice and employed additional staff; low risk of repetition