Law Society-v-William Michael Lewis
Interlocutor
Edinburgh 17 June 2008. The Tribunal having considered the Complaints dated 28 May 2007 and 28 March 2008 at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against William Michael Lewis, Solicitor, 1 Hope Park Terrace, Edinburgh; Find the Respondent guilty of Professional Misconduct in respect of his failure to reply to reasonable requests of the Law Society for information, his failure to carry out work in an expeditious fashion in the winding up of an Executry, his failure to respond to clients, his acting in a conflict of interest situation, his failure to respond to a mandate, his persistent failure to timeously record Dispositions, Standard Securities and Discharges, his breach of Rules 8(4), 9(2) and 10(2) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Accounts etc Fund Rules 2001, his failure to keep a client fully and promptly informed about the position in relation to conclusion of missives in a conveyancing transaction, his failure to promptly clarify with the client the position in relation to the conclusion of missives where it was apparent or should have been apparent to him that she misunderstood the situation, his failure to be open and candid with his client in relation to potential and actual breaches of her contractual obligations under missives, his failure to spell out to his client the background which gave rise to the difficulties she found herself in and the associated risks, his failure to register a Disposition in the Land Register within a reasonable time after settlement and his failure to register a Standard Security within a reasonable period after settlement; Censure the Respondent and Direct in terms of Section 53(5) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 that any practising certificate held or to be issued to the Respondent shall be subject to such restriction as will limit him to acting as a qualified assistant to and to being supervised by such employer or successive employers as may be approved by the Council of the Law Society of Scotland or the Practising Certificate Committee of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland and that for an aggregate period of at least ten years and thereafter until such time as he satisfies the Tribunal that he is fit to hold a full practising certificate; Find the Respondent liable in the expenses of the Complainers and in the expenses of the Tribunal as the same may be taxed by the auditor of the Court of Session on an agent and client indemnity basis in terms of Chapter Three of the last published Law Society’s Table of Fees for general business with a unit rate of £11.85; and Direct that publicity will be given to this decision and that this publicity should include the name of the Respondent.
David Coull
Vice Chairman