The Solicitors Regulation Authority has staged its fifth intervention in the space of 24 hours, shutting down a West Midlands firm in order to ‘protect the interest of clients’.
The regulator has intervened into The Law Practice (UK) Limited, a firm based in West Midlands House, citing reason to suspect dishonesty on the part of the firm’s manager Paul Harris, who is not a solicitor. According to Companies House, Harris is a legal executive and was appointed as director of the firm in 2014.
In a statement published on its website, the SRA said: ‘There is reason to suspect dishonesty on the part of Paul Harris as a manager of the firm, and as a manager of Jerome Solicitors Limited in connection with the firm's business.’
It added that Harris has failed to comply with the SRA Principles 2011, the SRA Accounts Rules 2011, the 2019 Principles and the 2019 Accounts Rules.
Yesterday, the regulator took the unusual step of closing national firm Kingly Solicitors Limited, which has 16 offices across the United Kingdom.
It also intervened into the practices of Kingly's three directors, and said there ‘is reason to suspect dishonesty’ by Nurul Miah as a manager of the firm in connection with the firm’s business; or any trust of which the firm is or was a trustee; or any trust of which Miah is or was a trustee in his capacity as a manager.
