The Applicant appealed the Tribunal’s decision dated 18 June 2024 to impose no sanction for breaches the of MLR and to dismiss the allegations brought by the Applicant. The appeal was heard by Mrs Justice Lang DBE on 29 January 2025 and Judgment handed down on 11 March 2025. The appeal was upheld in full and the matter remitted back to the Tribunal to be heard by a differently constituted Panel. SRA Ltd v Dentons UK and Middle East LLP [20225] EWHC 535 (Admin)

Dentons denied the allegations. The Tribunal found that Dentons had breached the MLRs, but that the breach did not amount to a breach of the Principles or the Code as alleged pursuant to allegations 1.2 and 1.3. The parties jointly submitted, and the Tribunal agreed that as a matter of law, it had no jurisdiction to impose a sanction where there was no breach of the Principles, Code or professional rules. The MLRs did not fall within those categories. Accordingly, whilst finding, as a matter of fact, that the Firm had breached the MLRs, the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to impose any sanction for those breaches. Mr Coleman KC submitted that given the position, the correct response would be to dismiss the matter, there being no finding of professional misconduct that engaged the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The Tribunal agreed that this was the appropriate course. Accordingly, and notwithstanding its finding as regards allegation 1.1, the Tribunal dismissed the case.