David Burke

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

David Burke, admitted 1985, had not held a practising certificate since August 1994. He worked as a locum/employee at two firms (Frearsons and Bambridges) while falsely representing that he held or was renewing a practising certificate. The OSS received complaints from both firms. The Tribunal found all four allegations substantiated, disbelieved his evidence about a 'letter of comfort' from the Law Society and about non-receipt of OSS correspondence, and expressly found his behaviour dishonest applying Royal Brunei Airlines v Tan and Twinsectra v Yardley. Given a prior 1996 disciplinary finding, the Tribunal struck him off and ordered costs of £4,437.75.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Hold a current practising certificate

Aggravating factors:

• Previous appearance before the Tribunal in 1996 for regulatory breaches including practising without a certificate
• Respondent had not learned any lesson from earlier disciplinary findings
• Deceived two employers (Frearsons and Bambridges)
• Not a credible witness; gave untrue evidence