‘Showed a lack of integrity’, says SRA
A paralegal who raised concerns about her workload has been barred from working in the legal profession after it was discovered that she had falsified attendance notes.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said that Lydia Cleary’s actions created the “misleading impression” that she had worked on the files, which allowed her to transfer them from her inactive list.
The SRA issued Cleary, a former paralegal at Bristol-based DAS Law, a section 43 notice, which prevents her from working in legal practice without prior approval from the regulator.
In mitigation the SRA noted that no client had suffered any loss due to her actions, and that she had raised concerns about her workload with her immediate supervisor at the time.
Cleary’s conduct was serious because it was “dishonest and showed a lack of integrity”, the SRA said.
The former paralegal was also ordered to pay £600 in costs.