A job candidate who told a firm he graduated from the University of Leeds – as opposed to Leeds Metropolitan University – has been fined by the SRA.
Lee Hull secured a job as a legal advisor at Shropshire firm Clarkes Legal after giving several false impressions on his CV.
The document included a claim he attended Yale University, when in fact he had actually submitted a research paper for the law review which was not published.
Hull also claimed to have been called to the Bar whereas he had only completed the bar vocational course.
A regulatory settlement agreement, published by the SRA, stated that Hull accepted a police caution in February 2016 for fraud by false representation as a result of the false CV.
The notice also confirmed that whilst employed at Clarkes, Hull was responsible for missing a court date on one case in mid-2015.
He attempted to cover his error by producing and back-dating three letters, addressed to Hull’s client and dated April, May and June 2015, which made it appear he had asked for fees from the client to proceed with the matter.
None of the letters were created on the date on which they appeared and were all created on 8 July 2015. None of the letters were sent to Hull’s client.
Hull, who no longer works for Clarkes, admitted to breaching five SRA principles, as well as to being dishonest, but in mitigation said his caseload had been ‘significant’ and he was under substantial pressure.
He had been on medication for depression for several years which affected his judgment, at a time when he was also dealing with the death of his grandfather.
The SRA stated Hull’s conduct was neither trivial nor justifiably inadvertent and he misled his client and the court.
He was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £600 costs.
Legal assistant fined £2k after university lie on CV
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