Gavin Clarke

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

The Respondent, admitted in 2003, acted as a solicitor between February and August 2022 without holding a practising certificate, misleading Person A about his status, falsely claiming to have instructed counsel and lodged a criminal appeal for her partner. He obtained £4,525 into his personal account, undertook no genuine work and failed to return the funds. The Tribunal found all four allegations proved, expressly finding dishonesty and a serious lack of integrity. Despite substantial mitigation, no exceptional circumstances existed, and he was struck off the Roll. Given his impecuniosity, no order as to costs was made (SRA had claimed £1,950 investigation costs and £24,400 plus VAT for proceedings).

Duties found breached:

• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate and sustained dishonesty over several months
• Financial exploitation of a vulnerable member of the public
• False representations about instructing counsel and lodging an appeal
• Held himself out as a solicitor knowing his practising certificate had been revoked
• Failure to return client funds despite repeated promises
• Failure to cooperate/engage with the SRA regulatory process

Mitigating factors:

• Full and unequivocal admissions to all allegations
• Attendance at hearing and expressions of remorse and insight
• Significant personal difficulties including homelessness, health problems and effects of lockdown
• No previous disciplinary findings
• Ongoing voluntary work and completion of rehabilitation programme
• Expressed intention to make restitution of £4,525