Former City solicitor rebuked by SRA following drink-driving conviction

A former City solicitor has been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority after he was convicted for drink-driving. According to a decision published by the SRA this week, John Goldfinch, a former employee at Allen & Overy Shearman Sterling, agreed to the rebuke.

The decision states that Goldfinch was arrested on 6 April after his vehicle collided with a parked unattended vehicle. A police breath test showed he was three times over the legal limit. He notified the SRA of his arrest the following day.

On 17 July at Southampton Magistrates’ Court, Goldfinch pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle having consumed a level of alcohol in excess of the legal limit. He was disqualified from driving for 24 months, to be reduced by 24 weeks on completion of a driving course, and fined £1,000.

The SRA said Goldfinch cooperated fully with the police. He notified the SRA on the same day he was charged, he had no prior convictions, no one was injured, he provided full details to the owner and made financial reparation within 24 hours, and he pleaded guilty at his first magistrates’ court appearance.

The regulator said a written rebuke was the appropriate outcome because Goldfinch was directly responsible for his conduct, disregarded the potential risk of harm driving after he consumed alcohol exceeding the legal limit might cause, had a particularly high level of alcohol in breath when he was arrested, and damage was caused to a third-party vehicle.

Goldfinch agreed to pay the SRA’s £300 investigation costs.

Since changes to the SRA’s enforcement strategy came into force last year, the regulator's sanctions have come under growing scrutiny. In January, it issued a solicitor convicted of drink-driving a fine some 31 times higher than the financial penalty issued by the court. In a regulatory settlement published three months later, the SRA opted against fining a solicitor who was convicted of driving whilst unfit through excess alcohol.