Solicitor loses case over conditions on his practising certificate
A solicitor who requested that conditions on his practising certificate be replaced by undertakings to avoid high insurance premiums has lost his appeal at the High Court.
Hugh Bryant was suspended from practice after he made a protected disclosure to NCIS about an American client. Once his suspension ended, in 2008, he was granted a series of practising certificates subject to conditions but was unable to find work due to increased professional indemnity premiums. Consequently, Bryant asked the court to replace the conditions with undertakings.
Delivering judgment in Bryant v Solicitors Regulation Authority [2012] EWHC 1475 (Admin), Mr Justice Eady acknowledged that “the imposition of conditions is now in practical terms recognised to be the ‘kiss of death’”. “To all intents and purposes they render the prospects of further practice impossible,” he said.
Eady J also recorded the facts Bryant made no personal gain from acting for the American client, and that “an old and respected City firm” had acted for the American client for a number of years before Bryant took over.
However, he ruled that it would be “quite inappropriate” to let the state of the professional indemnity insurance market influence his decision. Dismissing the appeal, he held that the five conditions were “sensible and directed towards proper objectives”.
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