Paul Formby

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

Paul Formby, an experienced insolvency solicitor and salaried partner at SAS Daniels, admitted all allegations including dishonesty relating to his handling of the Crosbie bankruptcy matter for client Ms Kent. He unilaterally withdrew a s366 Insolvency Act application without her knowledge/consent and agreed she would pay respondents' costs. He then redacted paragraphs from four witness statements (using a photocopier) referring to the withdrawal and costs order, presenting them to his client and counsel as originals to conceal his mishandling and preserve his position and client relationship. After ceasing to act, he agreed she would pay £30,000 in costs without her knowledge or consent; the firm ultimately paid this sum. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers by agreed outcome, found the admissions properly made, found no exceptional circumstances, and struck him off the Roll with costs of £5,046.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• No taking unfair advantage
• Act in the client's best interests
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Repeated dishonesty over a period of 5-6 weeks involving redaction of four witness statements sent to client and counsel
• Committing his client to pay costs she was unaware of, had not agreed to and could not afford
• Misleading his client for several months
• Deliberate, calculated and repeated misconduct
• Concealment of wrongdoing
• Experienced solicitor with direct responsibility
• Breach of trust placed in him by his client
• Knew or ought to have known conduct breached obligations to protect the public and reputation of the profession

Mitigating factors:

• Cooperation with the SRA investigation
• Early admissions of all allegations from the earliest opportunity
• Personally ashamed and professionally embarrassed by his conduct
• Provided complete unredacted witness statements when file transferred to new firm
• Negative impact on mental wellbeing exacerbated by delay between admissions (2018) and referral to SDT (2023)
• Claimed intention to offset costs against expected costs award