Legal Futures (UK)
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has been ordered to pay a solicitor costs of £184,000 over a prosecution the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) described as “improperly brought”.
Simon James Price had sought costs of £417,000 but the SDT found some of the claim excessive after deciding that the SRA had failed to disclose a crucial document much earlier in the process.
The SDT was ruling on the SRA’s application to withdraw the allegations against Mr Price, principally on the basis of the diminished public interest in pursuing the proceedings and the diminished prospect of obtaining an order against him.
The allegations were not detailed but related to an alleged failure to check a client’s source of wealth and funds more than a decade ago.
The SRA told the tribunal that Mr Price had filed a “lengthy and detailed” answer in May 2024 which raised “a number of new points” not previously made on his behalf.
This provided “new information suggesting that others in the [unnamed] firm shared the responsibility with him for the failures in due diligence”.
The SDT concluded that it was no longer in the public interest to continue with the proceedings and that there was no realistic prospect of an order being made against Mr Price.
SRA ordered to pay solicitor £184k costs for “improper” prosecution
