Baljinder Hayre

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

Baljinder Hayre, sole principal of Hayre & Co, was found to have filed an incorrect plan at the Land Registry contrary to his client's instructions, encumbering his client's land and leading to a civil negligence judgment against the firm for £229,970. He was further found to have falsified file attendance notes and their contents and relied on them in defending the civil claim brought by Company X. The Tribunal made an express finding of dishonesty applying the Ivey test, despite the civil judge having found only negligence. The Tribunal also found a conflict of interest breach (allegation 1.3, admitted). The hearing proceeded in the Respondent's absence after his adjournment application (on medical and bereavement grounds) was refused as the medical evidence was inadequate. Given the dishonesty finding and no exceptional circumstances, the Respondent was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £7,470.30 (substantially reduced from the £23,212.50 claimed due to the Applicant's disproportionate costs and poor preparation).

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct was dishonest
• Misconduct extended over a considerable period of time
• Conduct was deliberate and planned
• Respondent knew or ought to have known actions were harmful to the reputation of the legal profession
• Extensive steps taken to conceal initial error and misrepresent events

Mitigating factors:

• No prior disciplinary findings / otherwise unblemished record
• Early partial admissions to allegations 1.3 and 1.4
• Accepted in his Answer that conduct if proved would lead to strike off, showing some insight
• Relatively inexperienced solicitor