Thomas Crampton

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

The Respondent, a shipping litigation solicitor and principal at Lax & Co LLP, was found to have made misleading statements to clients about default judgments entered against them, failed to file acknowledgments of service and defences, failed to contest jurisdiction as instructed, failed to inform clients of a change of leading counsel, and failed to respond to SRA correspondence. Most seriously, he deliberately tampered with transcripts of a two-day High Court hearing (28/29 November 2011) by adding and deleting words to remove references that questioned his handling of the case, then passed the doctored transcripts to clients as accurate records. He admitted all allegations including dishonesty (assessed under the Twinsectra test). The Tribunal found no exceptional circumstances and ordered that he be struck off the Roll and pay agreed costs of £12,000.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Tampered with court transcripts on about 15 pages to remove references questioning his handling of the case
• Repeatedly misled clients about how default judgments were obtained
• Failed to inform clients of change of leading counsel
• Default judgments entered against client due to failures

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted all allegations including dishonesty
• Attended hearing and cooperated with the Applicant during proceedings
• No previous disciplinary findings
• Expressed regret
• Conduct described as unusual and isolated during a period of personal and professional stress