Katherine Gilroy

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

Katherine Gilroy, an assistant solicitor admitted in 2017, deliberately failed over a seven-month period to disclose to her client, supervisor and counsel correspondence and court orders from opposing solicitors regarding costs, then prepared misleading draft letters and deliberately used an incorrect email address to give the false impression a letter had been sent to the opposing firm. The matter was resolved on the papers via an agreed outcome. The SRA withdrew the dishonesty allegation in exchange for an undertaking not to seek restoration to the Roll; the Tribunal made no finding of dishonesty but found a very serious lack of integrity. She was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £3,301.

Duties found breached:

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

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct was deliberate, calculated and repeated
• Conduct extended over a 7-month period
• Conduct involved misleading her principal, client and counsel
• Concealed wrongdoing by preparing a misleading letter and purporting to send it via a deliberately incorrect email address
• Ought reasonably to have known the conduct breached obligations to protect the public and reputation of the profession
• Potential harm to client's creditworthiness via interim charging order and restriction on property

Mitigating factors:

• Suffered from work-related anxiety and depression with supporting medical evidence
• Newly qualified solicitor carrying significant responsibility with inadequate support
• Overwhelmed by workload at a small firm
• No financial benefit and no malicious intent
• Otherwise unblemished regulatory record
• Self-reported to the SRA
• Co-operated fully with the SRA investigation
• Showed insight, remorse and apologised
• Voluntarily left the legal profession