Bibiana Martial

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

The Respondent, a solicitor at Battersea Law Centre, was found to have failed to progress two clients' cases (Ms R and Ms B), allowing both claims to be struck out, failing to notify clients, and continuing to act despite a conflict of interest. She backdated 24 letters on the client files over a ten-month period, some of which were used to mislead an Employment Tribunal, and failed to cooperate with the SRA. The Tribunal found all allegations proved beyond reasonable doubt, including an express finding of dishonesty under the Twinsectra test. Finding no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal ordered she be struck off the Roll and pay costs of £4,000. The hearing proceeded in her absence.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• No conflict between current clients
• Cooperate openly with regulators

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct was dishonest and premeditated - 24 documents backdated over a ten-month period
• Deliberately laid a false paper trail requiring forethought and planning
• Used backdated letters to mislead an Employment Tribunal
• Given three opportunities to explain and gave no credible explanation
• Failed to respond to the SRA

Mitigating factors:

• No previous disciplinary matters