Andrew Herbert Wettern

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

Andrew Herbert Wettern, a solicitor and partner at Watson Farley & Williams, accepted two undisclosed personal payments (£13,301.57 in 2000 and £10,000 in 2002) from a client representative in conflict-of-interest situations without advising the payer to seek independent legal advice and without notifying his partners. He also dishonestly created a false paper trail (including falsely dated documents) to give the impression that a supplemental agreement had been executed earlier than it was, while aware of an investigation into the relevant dealings. He admitted allegations (a), (b) and (e); the Tribunal found dishonesty under the Twinsectra test. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay £20,000 costs. His High Court appeal was discontinued.

Duties found breached:

• No conflict between current clients
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Respondent knew there was an investigation into dealings between Fiona and Standard when he created the false paper trail
• Conduct at the top end of the scale of misconduct
• Experienced solicitor who was mentally stable at the material times

Mitigating factors:

• Respondent reported himself to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors
• Admitted the dishonest conduct at an early stage before any harm was caused
• Repaid the personal payments (one with interest)
• Out of character; product of panic
• Voluntarily suspended himself from practice since mid-2005
• Suffered severe depression since 2005
• Positive character references