Phillip Andrew Stewart Davies

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

The Respondent, a principal of Ravencourt Legal Services, was found to have failed to adequately supervise an assistant solicitor, Mr Jones, who carried out a substantial number of conveyancing transactions bearing the hallmarks of mortgage fraud (back-to-back transactions between connected parties with price uplifts, without informing lender clients). Mr Jones was separately convicted of conspiracy to defraud and sentenced to four years imprisonment. The Respondent was not alleged to have participated in any fraudulent transactions; the allegations were based solely on failure to supervise. He took no part in the proceedings and the hearing proceeded in his absence following service by advertisement. The Tribunal was satisfied to the criminal standard that the supervision failures were proved, noting Mr Jones' work contributed hugely to the Firm's income. As the Respondent was no longer on the Roll, the Tribunal made a s47(2)(g) direction barring restoration without its permission and ordered costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made against the Respondent.

Duties found breached:

• No conflict between current clients
• Supervise staff and delegated work

Aggravating factors:

• Failed to offer any explanation or account concerning his supervision of Mr Jones
• Mr Jones' work contributed a very substantial part of the Firm's income, warranting closer supervision
• Did not question the transactions when the Firm was removed from a building society conveyancing panel
• His default allowed fraudulent conveyancing transactions to proceed

Mitigating factors:

• No previous disciplinary findings against the Respondent
• No allegation or finding that the Respondent was involved in any fraudulent transactions himself