Michael John Little

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

Michael John Little, a solicitor (and barrister) on the Roll since 2008, was convicted in the US District Court (SDNY) in April 2018 of 19 counts, including conspiracy to defraud the IRS, corruptly obstructing the IRS, and aiding/assisting preparation of false IRS forms, arising from a scheme to conceal offshore assets of the Seggerman family from US tax authorities. He used his solicitor's letterhead to make misleading representations (described by the trial judge as a 'whopper of a lie'). The Tribunal rejected his jurisdictional challenge and applications for a stay, adjournment, and proceeded in his absence. It found Allegations 1.1 and 1.2 proved, including breaches of Principles 2 and 6 and Rules 1.02 and 1.06, and made express findings of dishonesty under the Ivey test. With no exceptional circumstances, the Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered costs of £11,393.25.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct was dishonest
• Involved commission of serious criminal offences
• Continued over a period of years
• Deliberate conduct
• Known material breach of professional obligations
• Used professional status as solicitor to lend credibility to false representations

Mitigating factors:

• No previous disciplinary findings
• Advanced age (74)
• Under stress with various ongoing proceedings
• No evidence of misconduct before or since convictions
• Mitigating factors identified by sentencing Judge (sense of honour/duty to deceased associate and concern for his widow)