Richard Caplan

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

The Respondent, a sole practitioner solicitor, was found to have practised without professional indemnity insurance from 1 April 2012, taking on 104 new client matters without notifying clients, and failing to pay ARP premiums. More seriously, in administering the estate of Mrs MW for which he was sole executor, he misappropriated £204,676.44 of client money by sending it to HMRC rather than to the charity RNIB, failed to account to RNIB for that sum, and later provided RNIB with a materially different (incorrect) Will and Statement of Account to conceal the shortfall. The Tribunal rejected his defence that he acted only as executor and not as a solicitor, and found express dishonesty under the Twinsectra test on all three relevant allegations. With no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered costs of £21,000 (inclusive of VAT), not to be enforced without the Tribunal's permission given his IVA.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• Disclose material information to client
• Handle inadvertently received material
• No improper use of client money
• Account for interest on client money
• Professional indemnity insurance

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty over a considerable period
• Deprived a charity of £204,676.44 properly due
• Steps taken to conceal misappropriation including providing incorrect documents and failing to respond to correspondence
• Previous disciplinary finding in 2004 (fine of £10,000) - not of previous good character
• Exposed clients to risk by practising without insurance and taking on new matters

Mitigating factors:

• Frustrating situation regarding obtaining PII due to former partner's conduct and difficulty locating crossover files
• Attempts to obtain affordable cover to save the business and staff jobs
• No known claims arose during the uninsured period