A solicitor has been fined more than £5,000 for her failure to maintain accurate and compliant books of accounts over a decade.
Gillian Huthart, admitted in September 1990, has run Hutharts Law Firm since 2010. Recurring issues were identified on the qualified accountants reports submitted for the years ending 2012 through to 2022.
In a published agreed decision, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said that between 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2022, Huthart failed to maintain accurate and compliant books of accounts. It said recurring issues were that client account reconciliations were not completed promptly and bookkeeping transactions were posted excessively late.
The regulator said: ‘Ms Huthart was aware of the recurring nature of these breaches over a prolonged period of time. Despite this, Ms Huthart undertook no, or insufficient, action to rectify the breaches. The result was that client account reconciliations were not completed on a five-weekly basis and there were delays in posting bookkeeping transactions and that client account ledgers were not maintained contemporaneously.’
Huthart also failed to ensure that the accountants' reports for 2020 and 2021 were submitted on time to the SRA.
Announcing the agreed outcome, the SRA said a fine was appropriate because there were ‘ongoing breaches which remained unrectified over a significant period of time’ which ‘had the potential to cause harm to the firm’s clients if liabilities owed could not be met’.
It added: ‘A fine is appropriate to maintain professional standards and uphold public confidence in the solicitors’ profession and in legal services provided by authorised persons. This is because of the possible impact upon the public’s confidence in firms and in the provision of legal services generally. This is linked to a solicitor’s failure, over a prolonged period of time, to comply with the SRA Accounts Rules.’
Huthart's breaches ‘amounted to a deliberate pattern of behaviour over a prolonged period of time’. It added: ‘Ms Huthart is an experienced solicitor. She would have known the importance of submitting accountants reports on time, completing regular bank reconciliations and making sure client ledgers were maintained contemporaneously.’
Taking into account ‘cooperation and steps taken to remedy harm’, the SRA fined Huthart £5,411. She must also pay the SRA’s investigation costs of £600.
