Daniel Whittingham

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

Daniel Whittingham, a solicitor admitted in 2015, was dismissed from Blake Morgan LLP in June 2018. While seeking private investment, he falsely represented to two members of the public (Mr Sobun and Mr Mondini) that he was still employed as a solicitor at the firm - sending photos of old business cards, directing them to a LinkedIn profile showing current employment, and claiming his monthly salary as a lawyer would fund repayments - to induce them to invest. He also misled the SRA about how his LinkedIn profile came to be viewed. The Tribunal, proceeding in his absence, found all allegations proved, including dishonesty under the Ivey test, and found breaches of Principles 2, 6 and 7 and Outcome 11.1. Culpability and harm were assessed as very high. Applying Sharma, no exceptional circumstances existed, so he was struck off the Roll. Costs were fixed at £5,000 by the Tribunal but later increased to £19,468 on the SRA's successful appeal.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• Integrity
• No taking unfair advantage
• Cooperate openly with regulators

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonest conduct
• Deliberately evasive/obfuscating answers to the regulator
• Deliberate and calculated actions involving two separate individuals
• Gross abuse of position as a solicitor
• Unclear whether monies advanced by the investors had been repaid
• Motivation of financial gain/avarice

Mitigating factors:

• No previous disciplinary findings
• Hitherto unblemished career