Solicitor subject of multiple complaints agrees suspension

A solicitor who was the subject of 22 complaints to the SRA has been suspended for practising without permission.

In an agreed outcome with the regulator, Susan Lebreton-Towell admitted she carried out probate activities without authorisation after the closure of her Cheshire-based sole practice in 2016.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that after this date, Lebreton-Towell acted as a consultant to a new company LT Law, solely owned by her son, which was not authorised by the SRA.

Among the complaints was a case in which Lebreton-Towell was co-executrix of an estate for a late client. She did not send any terms and conditions for her work to the co-executrix and the failure to provide information led to HMRC fining the estate for non-returns (the fines were later cancelled).

The other law firm handling this estate complained to the SRA about her lack of communication and it was only some months after the regulator had got in contact with her that she responded to requests for information.

In another case, Lebreton-Towell was appointed to handle an estate worth under £300,000 after her client died in December 2017. It took three months for her to provide a copy of the will, by which time the client had been buried contrary to his instructions.

Through their own solicitors, the client’s children complained about the lack of information from Lebreton-Towell to the extent they sought to have her removed as an executrix.

In June 2019, after a new executor had taken over with an agreement to pay Lebreton-Towell’s costs, LT Law sent an invoice for almost £50,000, which included her rate of £200 an hour and her non-solicitor son at £140 an hour.

The tribunal heard that another law firm complained to the SRA about her holding herself out as acting through LT Law on an estate. She had requested payment of £180 an hour for this service, which is a reserved legal activity.

Lebreton-Towell said in her mitigation she genuinely believed she was entitled to practise as she did, although she now accepted she had breached solicitor rules.

She had been admitted in 1994 and previously had an exemplary disciplinary regulatory history.

The agreed outcome stated that Lebreton-Towell charged ‘significant sums of money’ for legal work in an unauthorised environment. As a solicitor with so much experience, it was accepted she should have been familiar with practising requirements.

She was suspended for three months and agreed to pay £16,000 costs.