Alastair John Grahame Brown

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

Alastair John Grahame Brown, a solicitor admitted in 1977, faced four allegations: breaching Practice Rule 5 by providing core legal services through a limited company (Lancecrown Limited) outside the Separate Business Code; acting where his own interests conflicted with his client Mr M's (taking a personal mortgage at 40% interest and loans without ensuring the client obtained independent advice); taking or attempting to take unfair advantage of Mr M through grossly excessive bills; and being party to inaccurate information to the Registrar of Companies (falsely stating the company was dormant). The Tribunal found all allegations substantiated to the requisite standard. It found the respondent had fallen seriously below the high standards of integrity, probity and trustworthiness required, but made no express finding of dishonesty. He was suspended indefinitely from practice and ordered to pay costs to be taxed if not agreed.

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage
• No conflict between current clients
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Comprehensive catalogue of wrongdoing
• Respondent appeared not to appreciate the nature and scale of his unbefitting conduct
• Refusal to co-operate sensibly with his own professional body
• Charged wholly excessive fees (£25,742.36 charged against fair value of £3,757.69)
• Prior 1984 disciplinary finding (though considered remote and not relevant)

Mitigating factors:

• Previous disciplinary finding was a very long time ago and unrelated in nature
• Cancelled outstanding bills and returned keys and mortgage documents to the client after solicitors intervened