John Martin Lewis

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

The Respondent, a solicitor at Allington Hughes Limited admitted in October 1978, dishonestly amended a conveyancing completion date reported to the Welsh Revenue Authority (from 14 December 2018 to 18 December 2018) to avoid a late registration penalty, and instructed his secretary to confirm the false amendment. He admitted breaching Principles 2, 6 and 7 and that his conduct was dishonest. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers via an agreed outcome, found the admissions properly made and ordered him struck off the Roll and to pay costs of £2,979.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Act in the client's best interests
• No conflict between current clients
• Prompt accounting and return of money

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonest conduct
• Sought to mislead a public authority (WRA) to the detriment of the public purse
• Involved instructing his secretary to confirm false information

Mitigating factors:

• Isolated aberration in a 41-year career
• No party ultimately lost out (client did not pay penalty; firm covered it)
• Candid and admitted misconduct promptly
• Firm remained supportive as conduct was out of character