Law Firm Clyde & Co has suspended a partner and another lawyer and referred them to the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) regarding alleged breaches of obligations.
Legal Business reports that the SRA obligations that are being investigated that include provisions on the fundamental ethics and professional standards expected from lawyers and law firms in relation to clients, finances and assets, including the handling of areas of business including governance, equality and regulatory compliance, while the accounts rules cover the protection of client money.
Legal Business reported a firm spokesperson said: ‘The solicitors have been suspended pending an internal investigation. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.’
The firm has previously been penalised by the SRA in this area. Three Clydes partners were each handed £10,000 penalties and the firm fined £50,000 for breaching accounting and money laundering rules in 2017.
In that case, corporate partners Christopher Duffy and Simon Gamblin, as well as projects partner Nick Purnell, admitted they allowed a client bank account to be used as a banking facility, acting against SRA accounting rules and in breach of obligations under money laundering regulations. Clydes was also judged to have failed to follow rules on dealing with dormant client balances.
