William Noel Arthur Horner

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

William Noel Arthur Horner, a sole practitioner admitted in 1969, faced six allegations of conduct unbefitting a solicitor including failure to produce Books of Account, breaches of professional undertakings, failure to account for client funds, failure to comply with a Deposit Interest Certificate, and failure to deliver documents and co-operate following the Law Society's intervention in his practice. He did not attend but submitted written comments admitting several matters. His misconduct led to Compensation Fund claims exceeding £3.38m, largely due to money lent from client account. The Tribunal found all allegations substantiated and struck him off the Roll, ordering him to pay taxed costs. No express finding of dishonesty was made (the respondent maintained he had not been dishonest).

Duties found breached:

• No conflict between current clients
• Handle inadvertently received material
• No improper use of client money
• Accounting records, reconciliation and reports
• Honour professional undertakings

Aggravating factors:

• Handled clients' monies without regard to propriety or professional rules
• Removed all files and documents and refused to comply with High Court orders
• Failed to co-operate despite repeated attempts
• Lent money out of client account, causing huge claims on the Compensation Fund (claims totalling over £3.38m)

Mitigating factors:

• Expressed regret and apologised to clients and the Law Society
• Health problems and personal/family suffering
• Admitted several allegations
• Unemployed and on Income Support