Thomas Crampton

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

The Respondent, a shipping litigation solicitor and principal at Lax & Co LLP, admitted misleading his clients about how default judgments came to be entered against them, and dishonestly amending (doctoring) transcripts of a two-day High Court hearing to remove references that raised questions about his handling of the case, then passing these to clients as accurate records. He also failed to file acknowledgements of service, deal with default judgment applications, pass on relevant information (including a change of leading counsel), and respond to SRA correspondence. The Tribunal found dishonesty proved under the Twinsectra test and, finding no exceptional circumstances, ordered the Respondent to be struck off and to pay agreed costs of £12,000.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate editing of court transcripts to conceal his own mishandling of the case
• Repeated misleading of clients over an extended period
• Default judgments entered against a client due to his failures
• Failed to inform clients of change of leading counsel

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted all allegations including dishonesty
• Attended the hearing and cooperated with the SRA during proceedings
• No previous disciplinary findings
• Expressed regret and recognised gravity of conduct
• Isolated conduct during a period of personal and professional stress