Simon Kennedy Duncan (1)

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

The Respondent, a solicitor acting for a personal injury client, was found guilty of professional misconduct on two counts: (1) unduly delaying payment of the £12,000 settlement to the Secondary Complainer (cheque received c.19 Dec 2018, cashed c.15 Jan 2019, but funds not forwarded until 21 March 2019); and (2) cashing the settlement cheque on c.15 January 2019 despite being instructed by the defender's agents to hold it as strictly undelivered pending return of the signed Joint Minute and Motion. The Tribunal found these breached Rules B1.2 and B1.14.1 and called into question his integrity. A third averment (a misleading statement to the defender's agents that the cheque had been sent) was found NOT established as misconduct, the Tribunal lacking sufficient information to assess recklessness. The Fiscal expressly confirmed no dishonesty was alleged. The Tribunal censured the Respondent, taking into account a prior 2 June 2023 decision restricting his practising certificate for 10 years for conduct of a similar timeframe; it found the present disposal of censure fair given the exceptional circumstances. No expenses awarded; publicity ordered.

Duties found breached:

• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Prior finding of misconduct (decision of 2 June 2023) resulting in a 10-year restriction of his practising certificate

Mitigating factors:

• No dishonesty alleged or found
• No financial loss to the Secondary Complainer (loss reference deleted, replaced with distress/inconvenience)
• Respondent admitted all averments of fact and duty via Joint Minute
• Respondent was labouring under significant difficulties confirmed by a medical report
• Respondent was working in chaotic conditions while closing his firm with no office premises
• Conduct of same/similar timeframe to a previous Complaint; unlikely the earlier decision would have differed had these matters been included