By Rhys Duncan on
Junior associate refused
A senior partner has been suspended for nine months after telling a newly qualified (NQ) solicitor to send a misleading email to a client.
Rajpal Panesar, at the time managing partner in the property department of national law firm Taylor Rose, was supervising Person A when he made the request.
Person A, an NQ solicitor who had been admitted to the roll only three weeks prior to the incident, refused and reported Panesar to the firm’s compliance officer and the regulator.
Pansear avoided being struck off for dishonesty due to “exceptional circumstances,” the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal said, noting that the email in question was never sent.
The events date back to 2021, where the experienced solicitor told a client that a report would be sent to them that day, Friday 19 March. Pansear then told Person A to photocopy and post the relevant documents.
On the following Monday, Pansear confirmed to the client that this had been done, before later seeking confirmation from Person A on Tuesday 23 March, who told him that the report had not yet been sent.
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