Alex Rolf Van Der Zwaan

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

The Respondent, an associate solicitor at Skadden, admitted making materially false statements to the US Special Counsel's Office on 3 November 2017 during its investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 US presidential election, concealing September 2016 communications and deleting/failing to disclose emails to protect his position at Skadden. He pleaded guilty to a US offence and was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment and a USD 20,000 fine. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers by way of Agreed Outcome, found his conduct breached Principles 1, 2 and 6 of the SRA Principles 2011 and was dishonest. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £3,095.

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Misconduct involved dishonesty
• Misconduct was deliberate
• Misconduct was to protect his position at Skadden
• Undertaken in a high-level formal interview where total honesty was required
• Dishonesty led to criminal proceedings and criminal penalties (30 days imprisonment and USD 20,000 fine in US)
• Attracted high level of international publicity
• Breach of a position of trust with nearly 9 years' experience

Mitigating factors:

• Incorrect answers brought no benefit to him and he corrected the position
• He voluntarily came forward to correct his statements, which led to his conviction
• Actions were out of character with previously unblemished career
• Good character references provided
• Under significant personal and professional strain at the time (marital adjustment, health concerns, painful skin lesions, family medical condition, heavy workload)
• Intense 8-hour interview conducted by employer's counsel
• Accepts full responsibility, remorseful and demonstrated high degree of insight
• Clean prior disciplinary record