Rachel Parker

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

Rachel Parker, a solicitor at Buckles Solicitors LLP in the estate administration team, admitted that between September 2022 and November 2023 she made misleading statements to clients, colleagues and Barclays Bank, telling them she had submitted Grant of Probate applications and chased the Probate Registry when she had not, across eight client matters. She admitted the conduct was dishonest. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers via an agreed outcome, found the dishonest conduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated over more than a year, creating substantial risk of serious harm to clients, with concealment as an aggravating factor. Finding no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal struck her off the Roll and ordered payment of costs of £5,000.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Diligence and timeliness

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty
• Deliberate, calculated and repeated misconduct over more than a year
• Concealment of wrongdoing - did not admit when asked that she had not submitted applications or chased the Probate Registry
• Knew or ought to have known conduct was a material breach of obligations to protect the public and reputation of the profession
• At least eight instances of misconduct creating substantial risk of serious harm to clients

Mitigating factors:

• Prior exemplary regulatory and disciplinary history
• Significant mental health challenges (anxiety and depression) exacerbated by excessive workload and lack of support
• No personal gain sought or obtained
• Cooperated with the SRA investigation and SDT proceedings
• Offered sincere apology