Gillian Harwood

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

Gillian Harwood, a conveyancing clerk at Beers Solicitors, acted on her own re-mortgage from GMAC and failed to redeem all prior charges to Birmingham Midshires, paying off only one account (£45,757.21) and using the surplus for her own benefit. This left the firm in breach of an undertaking, requiring it to pay outstanding sums. The Applicant did not allege dishonesty, characterising it as astonishing incompetence. The Tribunal found the admitted allegation substantiated and made a Section 43 order restricting her employment by solicitors without Law Society permission, with costs of £4,000.

Duties found breached:

• Safeguard documents and limit liens
• Honour professional undertakings

Aggravating factors:

• Failed to disclose the problem to her employer from August 2005 until June 2006
• Obtained a financial benefit by paying off a personal loan and funding house improvements instead of redeeming the full mortgage
• Experienced residential conveyancer familiar with standard mortgage conditions

Mitigating factors:

• Repaid in full the monies due to the Firm
• Admitted the allegation and did not oppose the Order
• Claimed it was an honest mistake believing the accounts were separate mortgages; police took no further action; dishonesty was not alleged