Solicitor took advantage

cashbackproblems

Hi all

I have a friend who recently went to visit her local law firm to write a will, and the lawyer dealing with her case tried to kiss her in the offices which shook her up. She is quite young and he was much older and she confided to him her reasons for writing a will and opened up to him, as she has had a very tough upbringing and many adverse events in her life recently, so is quite vulnerable, trusting and assuming

She kissed him back only out of shock and he subsequently persisted to text her and turned up to her flat, she used to reply back to him but only as she is quite innocent and his intentions have only become clear recently once she opened up to her friends. This has been going on for a number of weeks

She is now clear and thinking straight and sees what he was trying to do. She would like to take action to stop this happening again to other venerable people and thinking of writing to his firm (which is quite large with a complaints policy) to make them aware

Is there a specific rule he has broken or general code of conduct? Should she notify the ombudsman or does this type of thing not fall under their remit?

Many thanks for any advice in advance, i wasn't too sure where to post this as it has been very upsetting for her

FreddieFrugal

Could contact the Solicitors Regulation Authority for advice

http://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code/part2/content.page

There's the code of conduct.

I think kissing a client in his office would definitely be taken seriously. It's clearly unprofessional.

TBagpuss

Yes, she should definitely write to the senior partner or complaints partner.

Solicitors have a code of conduct - it doesn't explicitly forbid personal or even sexual relationships between a solicitor and their client, but obviously non-consensual matters such as sexual assault or harassment are clearly not appropriate (and could potentially result in a criminal case too) and a solicitor has an obligation at all times to act in the best interests of their client, and to consider in particular any vulnerabilities a client has.

She can make a report to the SRA http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor.page#when-report-sra

Your friend could consider whether she wants to make a report to the police if she considers that the original kiss, or anything since, amounted to sexual assault.

Even if the behaviour was consensual, most solicitors would stop acting for a client if they started any kind of relationship..

farfromhome

Please ask you friend to follow TBagpuss's advice. This solicitor should be struck off; he has taken advantage of a vulnerable person. He may have done this in the past and got away with it but he must be stopped. He really should be suspended immediately pending an investigation by his firm and the SRA.

In view of the seriousness of his totally unacceptable behaviour, I would not only write to the Complaints Handling Partner of the firm, I would definitely inform the SRA at the same time and tell the solicitor's firm that the SRA is being informed.

I do hope that she hasn't made him the executor of her will?

Detroit

While there's no doubt this man behaved unprofessionally, whether your friend will achieve anything by reporting it depends to some extent on the content of the texts.

If his texts were inappropriate, e.g., of an explicit nature, and her replies made it very clear she was not interested, and asked him to stop, this would be helpful.

However, if the texts are of a nature that implies a mutual friendship, and your friend doesn't appear an unwilling correspondent, it will be very difficult to prove any wrongdoing on the part of the solicitor.

There were no witnesses to the kiss, and unfortunately, if there were, this is not helpful as you say your friend kissed him back.

That she did this from 'shock' would not be apparent to an observer, and may also be difficult for some to accept. The more common reaction to unwanted attention being to pull away.

If your friend reports him, it is highly unlikely he will confess, or that her word will be believed over his, unless there is a history of this behaviour on his part.

If the complaint is taken seriously, he is almost certain to challenge it, as the accusation are sexual assault and harassment, and very damaging to him if upheld.

He may defend himself by denying it, saying she was a willing participant, or even that she was pursuing him.
If there are texts to support any of these positions, they may be looked at as evidence.

The solicitors behaviour should be reported, as even in unproven in your friends case, it helps to establish a pattern in the event this man is a repeat offender.

However, I do urge caution unless you friend is confident the texts cannot be used to support another version of events.

She should assume the texts will be read by others, and balance the natural desire to complain with the potential risk to her own reputation if they are used against her.

PeacefulWaters

Detroit wrote: »

While there's no doubt this man behaved unprofessionally, whether your friend will achieve anything by reporting it depends to some extent on the content of the texts.

If his texts were inappropriate, e.g., of an explicit nature, and her replies made it very clear she was not interested, and asked him to stop, this would be helpful.

However, if the texts are of a nature that implies a mutual friendship, and your friend doesn't appear an unwilling correspondent, it will be very difficult to prove any wrongdoing on the part of the solicitor.

There were no witnesses to the kiss, and unfortunately, if there were, this is not helpful as you say your friend kissed him back.

That she did this from 'shock' would not be apparent to an observer, and may also be difficult for some to accept. The more common reaction to unwanted attention being to pull away.

If your friend reports him, it is highly unlikely he will confess, or that her word will be believed over his, unless there is a history of this behaviour on his part.

If the complaint is taken seriously, he is almost certain to challenge it, as the accusation are sexual assault and harassment, and very damaging to him if upheld.

He may defend himself by denying it, saying she was a willing participant, or even that she was pursuing him.
If there are texts to support any of these positions, they may be looked at as evidence.

The solicitors behaviour should be reported, as even in unproven in your friends case, it helps to establish a pattern in the event this man is a repeat offender.

However, I do urge caution unless you friend is confident the texts cannot be used to support another version of events.

She should assume the texts will be read by others, and balance the natural desire to complain with the potential risk to her own reputation if they are used against her.

Of course, there may be a couple of similar "grey area" complaints on file.

One or two can be unfortunate. Three or four would convince me that he's a bad 'un.

Alice_Walker

What was he trying to do, get his name on the will? Is she a vulnerable person in legal terms, for instance by disability or being in care, or is this more of a naivety? Is there a particular age difference between the two parties?

I would agree that a complaint is an option if she feels he acted outside the bounds of his position, but as others mention if there is evidence of a mutual attraction/ friendship and consent the complaint is unlikely to get very far. There is nothing wrong with a solicitor acting for a friend, especially with something as simple as a will, unless they stand to benefit from it. Nonetheless it is worth doing so there can be an awareness in case of future complaints.

Another point to keep in mind - like all professions, solicitors will usually stand up for each other, covering their own backs from suggestion of impropriety. Be aware that the company may take a quite defensive position.

TBagpuss

Even if he denies it or claims that there was a consensual relationship it would normally be appropriate for a solicitor in that situation to refer the client to a colleague, to avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest.

Nor would I agree with the assumption that the firm would close ranks' - if they believe that the allegation has bee made maliciously then of course they will do so, if not, they may well be more concerned to distance themselves from the individual and to demonstrate that they are taking it seriously and addressing it appropriately.

Alice_Walker

TBagpuss wrote: »

Even if he denies it or claims that there was a consensual relationship it would normally be appropriate for a solicitor in that situation to refer the client to a colleague, to avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest.

Nor would I agree with the assumption that the firm would close ranks' - if they believe that the allegation has bee made maliciously then of course they will do so, if not, they may well be more concerned to distance themselves from the individual and to demonstrate that they are taking it seriously and addressing it appropriately.

There's only a conflict of interest if they stand to gain from the will, hence my questions to the OP. It's common for sols to do wills for their friends, and conveyancing and other non contentious work.

I take it you don't work in the legal industry? The primary aim of any complaint investigation will be to protect the reputation of the firm, and that would not include admitting that they have a potential sex pest working for them.

Andypandyboy

I would agree with Detroit here. Make sure all the evidence supports her version of events. If it doesn't she may well be starting something she will later regret.

How old is your friend? To kiss someone back from "shock" seems rather an odd reaction to me, but maybe that is age related?

jackyann

-adverse events- have made her - vulnerable-

It may seem to some that kissing back is an odd reaction. Not necessarily if someone is young, very unsure of themselves, and whose life experience tells them they must always please those more powerful than themselves. It is good that she can step back from that, and see clearly now.

I am unsure of OP's place in this young woman's life. I think that the correct thing is to support her in what she wants to do.
Whilst undoubtedly the right thing to do is to report him (he probably picks on these young women) she is putting herself under some stress by so doing. Depending on her emotional strength, this may be too much to handle.

I suggest that she seeks advice from someone such as Women's Aid, Rape Crisis (they will talk over any sexual assault). They have a great deal of understanding about how these things work and the long term implications.