Michael Carl Lillywhite

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

The Respondent, a fixed share partner in private client work at George Green LLP, was found to have dishonestly backdated a Memorandum of Appropriation for Client A to make it appear executed before completion of a property sale (for CGT purposes), and to have sent a misleading email to Client B concealing that a draft Will had been sent to the wrong address. The Tribunal found dishonesty proved on both allegations under the Ivey test, along with breaches of Principles 2, 4, 5 and Code 1.4. Despite mitigation including no personal gain, no harm, and unchallenged medical evidence, the Tribunal found no exceptional circumstances to displace the default sanction. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £15,000 (reduced from £20,836.75).

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Two separate dishonest acts within weeks of each other involving different clients
• Conduct involved planning and was sustained over a period of days (Allegation 1.1)
• Demonstrated a pattern of concealing the true position rather than acting with candour

Mitigating factors:

• No personal or financial gain and no actual loss to clients or third parties
• Unchallenged medical evidence of depression, anxiety and impaired judgment during the relevant period
• Out of character conduct during period of significant personal and professional stress
• 14 years of practice with unblemished disciplinary record and good character references
• Cooperation with investigation, admissions and remorse
• Stability and rehabilitation since 2023 with three years satisfactory practice