Alison Clare Banerjee

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

Alison Clare Banerjee, an employment solicitor at Hunt and Coombs LLP, admitted six allegations of misconduct involving dishonesty: providing misleading information to the Employment Tribunal regarding IT issues, misleading Client A about a wasted costs order, settling and withdrawing Client A's claim without instructions (including signing a settlement agreement purportedly on his behalf), falsely telling Client A his hearing had been adjourned, telling Client B there was a settlement offer when none existed, and falsely telling Client C his case was listed for a hearing. The Tribunal found the misconduct involved serious, deliberate and repeated dishonesty over a period of time. It refused an application for anonymity, holding open justice prevailed despite the Respondent's mental health concerns. The Tribunal accepted the Agreed Outcome and found no exceptional circumstances justifying departure from the normal sanction. The Respondent was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £12,000.

Duties found breached:

• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No conflict between current clients
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Misconduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated
• Misconduct continued over a period of time
• Significant harm caused to clients who were unable to pursue their claims
• Respondent was an experienced solicitor with direct control over her actions

Mitigating factors:

• Over 12 years' practice with an otherwise exemplary record
• Mental health issues / depression and acute stress affecting decision-making
• Early admissions and co-operation with the SRA throughout the investigation
• Working under immense pressure as the sole employment solicitor across the firm