One expects to be entering into a professional and legal arrangement where there is a mutual respect for the other’s interests when you visit anybody in the legal profession, or any other profession for that matter.
Now, this is not to say that one should enter into any arrangement blindly, without checking out the repercussions of such a business deal, yet there is a certain amount of honour that one expects simply to be implicit within the bond.
Regrettably, there are people in any business, even the legal profession who will take advantage of trusting people and attempt to swindle them out of their cash. A crooked Sheffield conveyancing solicitor who was found to be ripping of homeowner’s through systematic cheating was one of these people.
The lawyer was well respected, not only in the community but in the legal circles that he frequented, working for a leading Sheffield law firm and had been a former partner within the firm. However, the mystery to the missing hundreds of pounds that had disappeared from his previous clients’ deals began to unravel and his scam was exposed after a client made a complaint about him.
The solicitor was in charge of arranging house sales which included a lot of money handling, providing him with an easy option to skim some extra money off the top of the company’s profits; this abuse of trust was made easy by his level of seniority in the company, which makes it all the more serious as he could have had access to much more funding, given more time to plan.
An internal audit revealed that he had been secretly pocketing money from conveyancing deals that belonged to the firm, by demanding that cheques and invoices be made out to him as opposed to the firm’s name.
Although no clients technically lost any money because of his underhand dealings as the money was destined to go to the firm, this was still a clear case of gross misconduct and the solicitor has been struck off the legal register; the firm now has a long way to go in regaining their reputation as a top Sheffield law firm.
If you do have any queries about the conveyancing process then it is best to compare the market of Sheffield conveyancing solicitors before deciding on one that you can trust; this is a terrible case of abuse of power, yet don’t let one story about a crooked solicitor put you off seeking legal advice from Sheffield lawyers.
