Noemaan Farooq Butt

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

Noemaan Farooq Butt, a sole practitioner solicitor at NRBS Solicitors, was found guilty of professional misconduct in cumulo for repeated breaches of Rules 6 and 4(1)(a) of the Accounts Rules and failure to supervise an employee (Mr A, a paralegal under a restricted practising certificate). He drew client account funds, ran significant deficits, falsified bank statements and issued false accounts certificates to conceal a shortfall of about £158,000, and made unauthorised payments totalling around £101,000 to a third party (Mr C). He claimed the payments were extorted under threat, but the Tribunal found him a wholly unreliable and incredible witness and held coercion was not a defence and carried no real mitigation. The Tribunal made express findings of dishonesty, including deliberately covering up a conveyancing error. The Respondent was struck off the Roll and found liable for the Law Society's and Tribunal's expenses (taxed, no fixed amount). The secondary complainer's compensation claim was continued to a later hearing, and publicity was deferred pending Crown Office criminal investigations.

Duties found breached:

• Cease acting on client perjury or disobedience
• No improper use of client money
• Supervise staff and delegated work

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct persisted over a long period of time
• Respondent showed little remorse or insight into the seriousness of his conduct
• Dishonest cover-up of negligence (falsifying records to conceal conveyancing error)
• Misappropriation of client funds totalling around £101,000 paid to a third party
• Respondent found to be a wholly unreliable and incredible witness; danger to the public

Mitigating factors:

• No prior items on his disciplinary record
• Had not been in practice since March 2011
• Claimed coercion/extortion by a third party (Mr C), though the Tribunal rejected this as not credible and not a defence