Nancy Josephine Lee

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

The Respondent, an assistant solicitor, was convicted at Westminster Magistrates' Court of five counts of fraud under the Fraud Act 2006 for submitting false train refund claims over a five-year period, using a false claim of a family death. She self-reported and admitted all allegations, accepting she breached Principles 1, 2 and 6. The Tribunal found the allegation proved, relying on the Memorandum of Conviction, and found no exceptional circumstances to justify a lesser sanction. She was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £2,321, not to be enforced without leave of the Tribunal given her financial difficulties.

Duties found breached:

• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct took place over a period of years (2009-2013)
• Involved fraud resulting in criminal conviction on five counts
• Repeated use of a false excuse (death in family) to obtain refunds

Mitigating factors:

• Self-reported the conviction to the SRA
• Full admissions and cooperation throughout
• Genuine remorse and shame expressed
• Behaved impeccably since conviction
• Financial difficulties and personal circumstances