The Applicant alleged that Mr Yousef, while employed as a solicitor at the Firm, provided legal services to Person A between February and April 2021 and accepted payment from her without the Firm’s knowledge or authority.

Person A had contacted the Firm in February 2021 after being told she needed to attend a voluntary police interview. She was referred to Mr Yousef, who arranged for the interview to take place on 9 April 2021 at Leyton Police Station, around 140 miles away. Text messages between Mr Yousef and Person A mentioned the sum of £250. Mr Yousef said this sum related to the private sale of hardwood flooring, rather than his rate for providing legal services, as Person A asserted.

Whilst on a day’s annual leave, Mr Yousef travelled to London and attended the interview with Person A. Person A said she paid him £250 in cash afterwards in the police station car park; he denied receiving any payment.

Mr Yousef was alleged to have concealed from the Firm that he had represented Person A at the police station interview on 9 April 2021 whilst on annual leave, and to have given false or misleading information to the Firm about her case in the following months.

No formal file was opened for Person A, no client entry was made on the Firm’s systems, and no legal aid claim was submitted, despite such police station work normally being covered by non means tested Legal Aid. Mr Yousef accepted that this was an oversight.

Person A requested a receipt for the alleged cash payment on 7 July and again on 13 July. When she received no receipt, she contacted the Firm on 14 July. The Firm could not find any record of her or any payment.
Finally, on 15 July 2021, Mr Yousef allegedly created backdated false and misleading entries on the Firm’s case management system to indicate work had been done in April 2021.

On 21 July 2021, the Firm reported concerns about Mr Yousef to the Applicant, and on 22 July Person A made her own report to the SRA.

Each of the three allegations were said to breach SRA Principles 2, 4 and 5 and paragraph 1.4 of the Code of Conduct. They were robustly denied by Mr Yousef.

The Tribunal found the allegations, including those of dishonesty and breach of integrity, to be not proved, save for a single breach of Principle 2, where the documents entitled Opening and Closing Letter to Client and Terms of Engagement dated 15 April 2021 were in fact created on 15 July 2021.

The Tribunal ordered that Mr Yousef be reprimanded.