SDT lifts solicitor’s indefinite suspension but imposes ‘stringent conditions’

A solicitor’s application to end his indefinite suspension has been granted with restrictions on his practice imposed by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

Andrew Reeves, admitted in October 1986, was a sole practitioner at JW Reeves & Co, which closed in 2009. In 2012 he was made subject to an indefinite suspension after failing to comply with a tribunal’s order over missing accountants’ reports.

According to the SDT judgment since his suspension Reeves has worked for a bank, ‘dealing with their recoveries and… gained additional experience in the financial and business sectors’. However his application to end his indefinite suspension was opposed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The tribunal acknowledged that it was ‘now unrealistic to expect the missing accountant’s reports to be delivered’ and concluded that it took ‘at face value’ that there had been ‘no obvious loss’ to any of Reeve’s clients.

Granting the application, the SDT said it was reassured by Reeve’s ‘acknowledgment that his return to legal practice would need to be carefully managed’ and he was proposing to practise in ‘a field which was closely related [to] the commercial sphere of activity he had been involved with at the bank for the last 13 years’.

It said: ‘The tribunal accepted that the applicant had insight into, and remorse for, his misconduct. The tribunal was satisfied that any residual risk or concerns the public might have regarding the applicant returning to practice, could be managed by stringent conditions.'

Under the conditions, Reeves must attend in-person courses on the core issues of legal practice' so that he understands what is expected of a solicitor in 2024'. He may not manage a law firm or hold client money 'until he has demonstrated a proven track record of compliance with the regulatory regime'.

Reeves must notify the SRA of any post taken up requiring a practising certificate and, within six months, complete 16 hours of in-person CPD covering a litigation update, a Civil Procedure Rules update, and the current standards and regulations, 'to be completed to the satisfaction of the SRA'.

The tribunal also ordered Reeves pay £2,262.07 costs.