Two former employees of national firm Irwin Mitchell have been disqualified from holding certain roles in firms regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

SRA sign inside The Cube

Source: Jonathan Goldberg

The cases, which are unrelated, saw Maurice Bryson-Sasso and Ruth Ferreria nee Wallis handed a section 43 order in SRA decisions published this week.

Bryson-Sasso, who is not a solicitor, was employed by Irwin Mitchell where he acted on behalf of a claimant in a personal injury claim. The regulator said he signed and filed a witness statement with the court that contained inaccurate information about the date on which he had instructed an expert witness. 

Bryson-Sasso was disqualified from holding the positions of head of legal practice, head of finance and administration, a manager or an employee, in an SRA-regulated firm. He was also ordered to pay the SRA’s costs of £1,350.

In a separate case, Ruth Ferreira, who is not a solicitor, was a chartered legal executive in the tax trust and estates team at Irwin Mitchell. The SRA found that Ferreira misled the executors of an estate by advising them that she had made an application to transfer shares held in the deceased’s name when she had not.

The regulator described Ferreira’s conduct as ‘serious’, adding: ‘It was deliberate, it was dishonest, and it formed a pattern of behaviour.' Ferreira was disqualified from being head of legal practice, head of finance and administration, a manager or an employee, in an SRA-regulated firm. It would be ‘undesirable’ for Ferriera to act in any of those positions, the regulator said.

She was also ordered to pay £1,350 in costs.

An Irwin Mitchell spokesperson said: ‘Recent decisions published by the SRA relate to discrete episodes of individual misbehaviour that Irwin Mitchell identified and proactively reported. No action was taken by the SRA against Irwin Mitchell and the individuals are no longer employed by us.

‘We have supervision policies and processes in place and where any issues are identified we will investigate promptly, report proactively and take disciplinary action as appropriate.’