Bing Han

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

A solicitor, sued for negligent advice, created two handwritten file notes after proceedings had commenced and, through his solicitors, gave false instructions that the notes were made contemporaneously in April 2016 to cover up his wrongdoing. He corrected the false representation via statutory declaration only after being told an expert would challenge the notes' authenticity. The Tribunal found the conduct dishonest and characterised it as professional misconduct. Rejecting the LSC's proposed two-year suspension as disproportionate, the Tribunal imposed a public reprimand, a six-month suspension, a two-year prohibition on holding a principal's certificate, completion of the QLS ethics course, and standard-basis costs.

Duties found breached:

• Overriding duty to the court
• Honesty
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct was dishonest, aimed at covering up his own wrongdoing
• Caused his own solicitors to be unwitting parties to conveying false information
• Only admitted the truth when advised the file notes would be challenged by an expert

Mitigating factors:

• Ultimately corrected the misrepresentation and provided an unqualified statutory declaration
• Cooperated fully with the applicant and made full admissions
• No prior disciplinary history (nine years practising before, four years after without blemish)
• Content of file notes not shown to be false; act was irrational and for no gain
• Suffering heavy workload and stress, lacked mentoring
• Genuine remorse and steps toward rehabilitation (psychologist, mentor, improved systems, ethics course)
• Favourable character references from colleagues and a barrister