Massimo D'Alvito

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

Massimo D'Alvito, a former partner in a criminal legal aid firm, was found guilty of professional misconduct for acting dishonestly and deceitfully by running a scheme over two years to obtain money from the Scottish Legal Aid Board. He submitted 81 accounts with invented outcomes to trigger early payment of fixed fees and, on six occasions, mis-described diets to claim additional fees not payable. The Tribunal made an express finding of dishonesty and criminal conduct, considered it at the highest end of the scale, and ordered his name struck off the Roll of Solicitors, with expenses awarded against him and publicity including his name.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• Honesty
• Prompt accounting and return of money
• No baseless or threatened misconduct report

Aggravating factors:

• Systematic abuse of the legal aid system / public funds
• Conduct persisted over a period of two years
• 81 separate false certifications of veracity
• Lack of insight into the seriousness of the conduct
• Criminal conduct involving theft/fraud
• Conduct at highest end of scale of professional misconduct

Mitigating factors:

• Cooperation with the Complainers and Tribunal proceedings
• Repayment in full of all overpayments (schedules 2 and 3)
• Actual fraud amounted to a small sum (approx £360 including VAT)
• Would eventually have been entitled to most of the fees claimed early
• Young solicitor at an early stage of career
• Cash flow problems as background
• Indication of remorse