Derek Clyde Cornelius

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

Solicitor acted for an elderly client L in an equity release transaction to raise £60,000, which was transferred to N, a struck-off solicitor and confidence trickster with whom the Respondent was co-director of E Course Limited. The Respondent knew of N's criminal past and failed to disclose it to L, failed to advise on the risks, and used L's funds to rectify an overdrawn client account connected to N. The Tribunal found the first and third allegations substantiated, expressly finding dishonesty under the Twinsectra test, and struck the Respondent off the Roll with costs of £10,667.

Duties found breached:

• No taking unfair advantage
• No conflict between current clients

Aggravating factors:

• Respondent had a personal financial interest as director and shareholder of E Course Limited having invested £20,000
• Failed to warn L of the risks and that N was a struck-off solicitor with criminal convictions
• Used client account as a bank and rectified overdrawn N account with L's equity release funds
• Provided inconsistent and misleading responses to the Law Society
• Tribunal found Respondent unreliable, evasive and lacking credibility

Mitigating factors:

• Respondent claimed to have been duped/'sucked in' by N
• Impact of arrest and criminal justice process affected him deeply