An associate solicitor who created false time records to meet targets and transferred money from the client account to make up a fee shortfall has been struck off the roll.
Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal courtroom
Source: Michael Cross
Nicholas Devlin, admitted in 2015 and a wills and probate solicitor with Cumbria firm Cartmell Shepherd, moved around £216,000 from the client account to pay for work he had purportedly completed. His misconduct, which had gone on for two and a half years, was uncovered by his head of department who noted a ‘worrying pattern’ of Devlin billing early but failing to produce documentation.
During an internal investigation, Devlin produced a list of nine client matters where time was recorded and billed without work being undertaken. In several cases he billed for drafting wills but did not send the drafts to clients for months.
Devlin was found to have actively sought to suppress the discovery of these irregularities, instructing the firm's credit control team not to follow up on certain matters in case clients were alerted to what was happening. He later admitted he was ‘burying his head in the sand’, fearing that clients would start to request progress on work he had not done.