The Solicitors Regulation Authority has apologised to the tribunal over its delay in sending a letter to a solicitor in prison.
Linda Lu, admitted in 2022, was jailed for five and a half years in 2024 after she, alongside her mother Susan Chen, was found guilty of stalking involving serious alarm or distress following a six-week trial.
A case management hearing in the regulatory case against Lu was adjourned in January to allow her to respond to allegations brought against her by the SRA.
However a three-person panel heard last week that Lu had not yet filed the expected documentation and, Lorraine Trench, for the SRA, said: ‘One can assume…the reason for the respondent’s lack of engagement is more likely she does not wish to engage with proceedings.’
The tribunal heard that the governor of the prison had ‘unfortunately…not responded to correspondence’ from the SRA.
Trench said: ‘In any event, the respondent is aware that the SRA is taking regulatory action against her because she responded to the notice recommending her referral to the tribunal. However, the tribunal may wish to give the respondent further opportunity to file an answer [a reply to the allegations against her].’
