The Law Society Gazette reports
A tribunal has found that an office managing partner did not ask his secretary to bill clients for a city break with his daughter – but that he was dishonest during the firm’s subsequent investigation.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal today found that George Panagopoulos, a former partner with international firm Reed Smith, altered documents prior to a meeting with bosses to discuss the London trip. He then claimed that these alterations were made months before, knowing that this was not the case.
Panagopoulos was today struck off by the tribunal and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs. A full judgment giving the tribunal’s reasons will be published in around seven weeks.
The tribunal heard over three days this week that Papagopoulos, who had been with Reed Smith for 18 years and was based in its Athens office, travelled with his school-age daughter to London in October 2019. The costs of the four-day trip, which included a stay at the exclusive Oxford and Cambridge Club in Pall Mall, a laundry bill, taxis from the airport and cabin allowance for four bags, were charged to three client accounts.
