Jennifer Griffiths

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

Jennifer Griffiths, a solicitors' clerk (not a solicitor) working for Peter Thomson and Hanoman & Co., continued to accept and conduct immigration clients without her employers' knowledge or authority after being told not to, and used forged firm notepaper bearing her own address. The Tribunal found all three allegations substantiated, rejecting her claim that she acted with her employers' authority (both solicitors gave evidence to the contrary). It made a Section 43(2) order controlling her future employment in the profession and ordered her to pay costs of £2,831.27. The respondent asserted she was not dishonest; the Tribunal made no express finding of dishonesty.

Duties found breached:

• No acting against a former client
• Handle inadvertently received material
• Safeguard documents and limit liens

Aggravating factors:

• Continued to accept new clients after being expressly instructed not to
• Concealed the existence of clients from her employer
• Used forged firm notepaper substituting her own address

Mitigating factors:

• Respondent had acquired knowledge and experience of immigration matters through work at advice centres
• She had devoted considerable time to and was committed to her area of work, wishing to help people