John F Fielding and Stanley M J Kerruish

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

Two partners of Fielding & Co. faced allegations of accounting breaches after an OSS investigation revealed a minimum client account shortage of £297,118.26 caused by Kerruish's systematic over-billing of clients. Kerruish accepted full responsibility for the over-billing; the Tribunal found all allegations against him substantiated and struck him off, ordering costs of £6,565.61. Fielding, who admitted the allegations on a strict-liability basis (no actual knowledge, suffering serious ill health), was suspended for two years and ordered to pay £1,000 costs. No express finding of dishonesty was recorded, though the conduct was described as 'looting' of client funds.

Duties found breached:

• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
• No improper solicitation or touting

Aggravating factors:

• Widespread 'looting' of clients' funds causing minimum cash shortage of £297,118.26
• Kerruish operated a deliberate system of over-billing clients
• Clients unaware their funds were being improperly utilised
• Kerruish's attempt to shift responsibility onto others via unsubstantiated allegations

Mitigating factors:

• Fielding: no actual knowledge of the misconduct; strict liability as partner only
• Fielding: prolonged and serious ill health at the relevant time
• Fielding: reported the matter to the OSS and requested intervention to protect clients
• Fielding: acted swiftly to set up new accounts and freeze partner's assets
• Fielding: unblemished disciplinary record over 40 years; no intention of returning to practice