By Lucy Caulkett-
A solicitor who sent misleading updates to its clients is fighting for her career at the High Court.
Peter Naylor, an associate at national firm TLT, sent five misleading emails to a corporate client in 2014 with false updates about progress. His false updates undermined the integrity of the legal profession. told the Solicitors Disciplinary
The tribunal ordered a temporary ban on the solicitor , sparring his career. However, the Solicitors Regulation Authority appealed the sanction decision as part of a hearing into three separate cases. The regulator appealed the judgment on the grounds that it was dealt with too leniently.
Naylors representatives blamed his actions on his deteriorating worsening mental health condition. He said the solicitors mental health was aggravated by the pressures of an ‘unforgiving’ work environment, had altered his conduct.
‘Members of the public will be sympathetic to Mr Naylor. It is a reality understood by the public that there can be toxic workplace environments which will produce [out of character] behaviour,’ his representative argued.
‘As a result of missing a deadline [Naylor] told a series of porkies. Of course it is not heinous conduct but it is serious dishonesty. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, his circumstances were not unique.’ Naylor had been a ‘credit to the profession’ with not even a parking ticket to his name before the misconduct, which she characterized as ‘not a moment of madness but months of madness’.
Yesterday the SRA urged the court to strike off the three solicitors – Naylor, Sovani James and Esteddar Macgregor. They insisted that stress and mental illness was an explanation for mistakes and negligence, not an excuse for dishonesty. The regulator is right. Naylor should be struck off.