Roger Patrick Diavewa

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

Roger Patrick Diavewa, a paralegal/legal executive employed by sole practitioner MS trading as Calices Solicitors, was made subject to a Section 43 Order by the SRA Adjudicator on 10 September 2020. The Adjudicator found he had falsely held out that the firm continued to act for a Family Court client, backdated a letter and statement of facts to mislead the Upper Tribunal, and received client funds into his personal account, acting dishonestly in the latter two respects. On review, the Tribunal rejected his three grounds (failure to weigh the supervising solicitor's defaults; alleged bias of the Adjudicator; improper/premature publication), noting a s43 Order is a regulatory/supervisory tool not a penalty, that the civil standard of proof applied, and that employees are subject to the same Code of Conduct as solicitors. The application to revoke was refused and the s43 Order confirmed. The applicant was permitted to be represented by a disbarred barrister, Mr Sykes, in the interests of justice. He was ordered to pay costs of £3,000 (£2,500 plus VAT).

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• No acting against a former client
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money