Andrew George Davies

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

Andrew George Davies, a partner/member and head of the commercial property team at Pitmans LLP, made at least 227 improper withdrawals from client account between 2009 and 2017, misappropriating a minimum of £1,504,056.12 for his own purposes (paying personal bills, cash, and third parties), and used client account as a banking facility. He concealed the conduct using abbreviations and false SDLT returns. He admitted all allegations including dishonesty. The matter was resolved by agreed outcome on the papers. The Tribunal found no exceptional circumstances and struck him off the Roll, ordering £17,000 costs. Publication was deferred pending a co-defendant's criminal trial.

Duties found breached:

• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• No conflict between current clients
• No improper use of client money

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty
• Course of conduct over at least seven years
• Planned and deliberate misconduct
• Breach of position of trust
• Nearly 30 years' experience as a solicitor
• Attempted to conceal misconduct by false accounting and underpaying stamp duty
• Significant harm to clients

Mitigating factors:

• Early admissions and cooperation with the SRA
• Expression of remorse