David Grant

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

David Grant, an experienced solicitor and sole equity partner/COFA at Tracey Barlow Furniss & Co, was convicted in December 2019 of one count of theft (stealing over £95,000 from clients) and two counts of money laundering (including depriving a deceased's estate of £6,000), receiving a total of two years' imprisonment. He also failed to report his firm's financial difficulties, failed to apply to become a recognised sole practitioner, made an improper client account withdrawal, failed to supervise staff and manage residual client balances, and caused unauthorised transfers to office account. He attempted to conceal his theft by persuading clients to mislead the SRA. The Tribunal approved an agreed outcome, finding express dishonesty, and struck him off the Roll of Solicitors, ordering him to pay costs of £14,073.75.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• Integrity
• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• Supervise staff and delegated work
• Report serious misconduct of others
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Convicted of dishonesty offences (theft and two counts of money laundering)
• Conduct deliberate, calculated and repeated over a period of time
• Took advantage of long-standing clients who placed trust in him
• Used £6,000 taken from a deceased's estate for personal matters
• Stole over £95,000 from clients over a nine-month period
• Attempted to conceal the theft by persuading two clients to give false and misleading information to the SRA
• Ought to have known conduct breached obligations to protect the public and the profession's reputation

Mitigating factors:

• Previously unblemished record over 46-year career
• Admissions to allegations indicating a degree of insight
• Believed proceeds from sale of property and business would cover liabilities
• Was in negotiations with another solicitor to join firm as partner
• Relied too heavily on office manager