‘Chickened out’: Solicitor struck off for hiding expert report from client

Undermined case

A solicitor who lied to a client to “buy herself some time” has agreed she should be struck off the roll.

Laura Elizabeth Simpson, admitted in 2009 and formerly with national outfit Switalskis, admitted she “chickened out” of telling the truth when an expert report undermined her client’s case.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) heard that Simpson had been handling the claim for about a year when she received the report in June 2023. Instead of informing the client, she emailed to say the report would be received “imminently”, later adding she was “still chasing” it and would “keep on at him and be in touch once it’s in”.

The deception unravelled when the client, trying to get an update, called the firm and spoke to Simpson’s secretary who revealed the report had been with the solicitor for eight weeks.

In a meeting with the firm’s compliance officer, Simpson admitted she had “lied” to the client, hoping the matter would “go unnoticed until [she] found the time to consider the report and advise the client”. She told an internal hearing that she had felt “swamped” with work and that it was “stupid thing to do”, but she just wanted to “buy herself some time”.

The SDT said it “found that Mrs Simpson was motivated by her desire to buy herself time with a client whom she described as ‘challenging’. Her conduct was planned and was in breach of the trust placed in her [client] to keep her apprised of progress on her case. Mrs Simpson was wholly responsible for the circumstances giving rise to the misconduct.”

The tribunal also noted the harm caused: “She had caused harm to [the client], who described being stressed awaiting the report, and that being lied to and misled by Mrs Simpson had a negative impact on her mental health and wellbeing.”

Simpson admitted all allegations of misconduct, told the tribunal she had stopped practising in February, and said she did not intend to return to the profession. In mitigation, she pointed to a heavy caseload of complex claims but accepted her behaviour was “completely unacceptable”.

The SDT confirmed Simpson would be struck off and ordered her to pay £3,000 towards the SRA’s costs — far less than the £30,000 initially sought.