Brian Ernest Edward Burrett

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

The Respondent, a former solicitor admitted in 1963 whose name had already been automatically removed from the Roll in 2002, was convicted in May 1999 on four counts of corruption (paying bribes to a bank official to secure loans for his building companies) and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment. He admitted the allegation of conduct unbefitting a solicitor and did not attend. The Tribunal found the allegation substantiated, treated the offences as involving dishonesty, and ordered that his name not be restored to the Roll except by Order of the Tribunal, plus costs of £1,014.50. The Tribunal noted regret at the delay because the conviction had not been reported to the Law Society.

Duties found breached:

• Report serious misconduct of others

Aggravating factors:

• Corruption seriously damages the reputation of the solicitors' profession
• Previous appearance before the Tribunal in 1978 for conflict of interest/breach of Practice Rules and breaches of Solicitors Accounts Rules