Matthew Stephen Becker

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

Matthew Stephen Becker, a solicitor and partner at Curtis Law LLP, was found to have concealed assets during his divorce by failing to disclose over £15,000 (later £23,000) held on his behalf within the Firm in a Form E and Form D81, misleading his wife and the Family Court. He also caused monies to be paid out of the Firm's client account (in a dormant matter under a relative's name) with no underlying transaction, in breach of the Accounts Rules. The Tribunal found both allegations proved and expressly found Becker's conduct dishonest under the Ivey test. Given the dishonesty and absence of exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered costs of £23,655.68 (reduced from the £51,830.48 applied for).

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• No taking unfair advantage
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Proven dishonesty
• Conduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated over a period of time
• Planned concealment of assets - specifically requested drawings and capital be retained by the Firm
• Experienced solicitor who knew disclosure obligations
• Took unfair advantage of Person B (his wife)

Mitigating factors:

• Previous good character
• Level of insight shown regarding errors made
• Positive references
• Full co-operation with the SRA