A paralegal under investigation who texted a client trying to persuade them not to give information about her has been removed from the profession.
Tina Spencer had worked in the family department of Mansfield firm Hopkins Solicitors for four years when she provided misleading information to HM Land Registry in documents filed on behalf of a client.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority said that Spencer then sought to conceal her actions by trying to persuade the client not to provide details to the firm, which was investigating her conduct. It was found that Spencer sent text messages to the client three days after providing misleading information in which she asked them not to cooperate.
Spencer then started working as a secretary with another Mansfield firm, Bryan & Armstrong Solicitors, but she lasted only three and a half months.
At the end of her employment, it emerged she had prepared wills for four testators in her personal capacity but used the firm’s front cover, bearing its name and address, on each of the documents.
The SRA found Spencer tried to mislead third parties by preparing wills with the firm’s identity when they were not clients.
Spencer, who was found to have acted dishonesty, was made subject to a section 43 order, preventing her from working for any regulated firm without the SRA’s prior approval. She must also pay a proportion of the regulator’s £1,350 costs.
