Daksheenie Abeyewardene

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

The Respondent, sole equity partner and head of immigration at Ziadies Solicitors, admitted submitting claims to the Legal Aid Agency between 2009 and 2012 that she knew to be improper, involving at least £800,000 of public funds wrongly claimed, and misleading LAA auditors during a January 2015 interview by denying that documents had been added to files. She admitted dishonesty under the Ivey test in respect of both allegations. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers via an Agreed Outcome, found her culpability high and harm substantial, found no exceptional circumstances, and ordered her struck off the Roll and to pay costs of £17,218.75.

Duties found breached:

• Honesty
• Integrity
• No conflict between current clients
• Cooperate openly with regulators

Aggravating factors:

• Admitted dishonesty
• Misconduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated
• Misconduct continued over a period of time (2009-2012)
• Involved concealment of wrongdoing
• Respondent knew or ought to have known conduct breached obligations
• Direct financial impact on the Legal Aid fund; at least £800,000 of public funds wrongly claimed
• High culpability; very experienced solicitor operating at partner level and head of immigration department

Mitigating factors:

• Repaid £800,000 to the LAA in full and final settlement
• Voluntarily notified the SRA about possible risk of overclaiming
• Cooperated with the SRA throughout the investigation
• Serious chronic ill-health (SLE and APS) causing cognitive decline, exacerbated by stress