Andrew Mark Brett

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

Andrew Mark Brett, an experienced litigation solicitor at Barnes & Partners, failed to progress Client A's professional negligence claim against LGS between 2016 and 2019, missing all court deadlines and taking no steps to remedy his failures, which resulted in the claim being struck out. Between February 2017 and December 2018 he repeatedly lied to Client A about the progress of the case, fabricating court hearings, listing appointments and directions, and creating letters purportedly sent to the defendant's solicitors that were never sent. The Tribunal found all allegations proved, including express dishonesty under the Ivey test. Proceeding in the respondent's absence, the Tribunal found no exceptional circumstances and ordered that he be struck off the Roll and pay costs of £22,950.

Duties found breached:

• No abuse of process or coercive powers
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Act in the client's best interests
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Proven dishonesty
• Conduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated over a protracted period
• Fabricated court hearings, directions and correspondence to conceal failings
• Caused significant and foreseeable harm to Client A, whose valuable claim was struck out
• Experienced litigation solicitor solely responsible for the misconduct

Mitigating factors:

• Previously unblemished record / no prior disciplinary matters