Claire Louise Tunstall

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

The Respondent, a junior assistant solicitor, admitted allegations 1.1-1.5: fabricating documents (including fake Counsel's Advice and medical expert reports) on a client's file, causing an improper £2,000 interim payment, making false time-recording entries, misleading another client about a settlement, and causing a £1,150 overpayment. The Tribunal found these proved but rejected the dishonesty allegation (1.6), accepting her highly credible evidence that she acted in blind panic under immense pressure with inadequate supervision, not thinking rationally, so the subjective limb of the Twinsectra test was not met. Given truly exceptional mitigation, the Tribunal imposed an indefinite suspension rather than strike-off, and ordered costs reduced from £14,897.85 to £10,000.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Act in the client's best interests
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports

Aggravating factors:

• Misconduct took place over a long period of time

Mitigating factors:

• Repaid all losses in full
• Cooperated with the regulator from the outset
• Made early admissions
• Showed genuine insight and remorse
• Otherwise unblemished record
• Inexperience and inadequate supervision at the firm
• Acted under immense stress and pressure and in blind panic
• Placed in inappropriate management/conflict situation as a junior solicitor

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["review_dishonesty_finding_cue_present"]