The Respondent was the sole manager of the Firm, which had acted, or purported to act, for an incorporated charity client in a litigation matter, and initially filed an application for an injunction, on an ex-parte basis.

The injunction was overturned the following day and the Firm ceased acting for the claimants before the claim was dismissed by the County Court. It was ordered that the opposing party be entitled to costs either from those purporting to be the claimants or from the Firm.

The Firm failed to comply with an order to serve and file a witness statement stating the identity of the claimants from whom it took instructions and subsequently did not respond to an application for wasted costs by the opposing party in the proceedings. As a result, the County Court Ordered that the Firm pay costs of £29,704.00 by 13 March 2020, or make an application to vary or set aside the Order within fourteen days of receipt of the order.

Solicitors for the opposing party reported to the SRA that the Firm had failed to make the payment as ordered and had not applied to set the order aside. This prompted the SRA to launch an investigation into the Respondent’s conduct, leading to an allegation that the Firm had failed to comply with the wasted costs order.

It was further alleged that the Respondent had failed to engage with or cooperate in multiple investigations into his conduct. In addition, he had not paid the fines and fixed penalties imposed by the SRA as a result of these failures.

The Respondent did not participate in the proceedings and was absent from the hearing, which proceeded in his absence. All allegations against the Respondent were proven.