Andrew Christopher Nicholls

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

The Respondent, a solicitor and partner at Dakin Nicholls, paid three cheques from clients' accounts for the benefit of other clients and arranged false entries in the firm's books to conceal the misuse, and forged his partner's signature on a client account cheque. He was convicted at Telford Magistrates Court and given a three-month suspended sentence on each count. He did not attend the hearing. The Tribunal found dishonesty and struck him off, ordering costs of £1,033.95.

Duties found breached:

• Proper basis for allegations
• No taking unfair advantage
• Act only on proper, lawful instructions
• No improper use of client money
• Prompt accounting and return of money