Lawrence David Kennedy

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

Sole practitioner Lawrence David Kennedy faced 18 allegations of conduct unbefitting a solicitor. Three Law Society inspections revealed serial breaches of the Solicitors Accounts Rules and successive client account shortfalls (£37,239.63; £189,155.93 plus a further £86,000; and a minimum £177,101.81), which were rectified during inspections. In an estate matter he arranged a back-to-back property transaction, selling estate property to a company he secretly owned (CH Ltd) for £212,000 and reselling the same day for £265,000, making a secret profit of £53,000 without disclosure to the administrators. He failed to respond to complaints and a regulatory direction, and failed to file a Cease to Hold Accountant's Report. He had two prior disciplinary findings (1988, £2,500 penalty; 1990, £5,000 penalty). He did not appear. The Tribunal found all allegations substantiated, expressly found dishonesty, and struck him off the Roll, ordering costs of £1,333.46. Compensation Fund payments of £327,492.87 had been made with pending claims of £246,193.66.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• No taking unfair advantage
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Disclose material information to client
• Complaints procedure and handling
• Proper termination and return of instructions
• No conflict between current clients
• Handle inadvertently received material
• No improper use of client money
• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
• Report serious misconduct of others
• Honour professional undertakings
• No improper solicitation or touting