Nadia Shah

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

Nadia Shah, an assistant solicitor in the Trusts and Estates Department of Gorvins, had day-to-day conduct of the sale of a Court of Protection patient's home. She attempted to sell the property to her own sister, Mrs Kazmi, at an undervalue (£190,000) in preference to higher offers, refusing a £210,000 offer and falsely telling the Public Guardianship Office that the offer resulted from a 6-8 week marketing exercise and that the buyer was unconnected to the firm. She later sought to blame the responsible partner, Mr Cusworth, including by sending the OSS a forged letter purporting to show he knew of the relationship, and made other false assertions. She admitted all allegations days before the hearing. The Tribunal found serious, conscious, deliberate dishonesty and struck her off the Roll, ordering her to pay costs of £23,097.56.

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage
• No conflict between current clients
• Truthful, non-misleading advertising
• No improper solicitation or touting

Aggravating factors:

• Took advantage of a vulnerable client
• Preferred a member of her own family
• Conscious, deliberate and dishonest act
• Lied to estate agents, the Public Guardianship Office, colleagues, the responsible partner and the OSS
• Sent the OSS a letter she knew to be false
• Showed no remorse
• Sought to transfer blame to Mr Cusworth, causing him significant distress and expense
• Conduct could have resulted in substantial loss for her client but for prompt investigation by her employers

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted all allegations (though only days before the hearing)