Denied it when confronted by firm
A junior solicitor has been struck off after telling a colleague to hide a file to cover up a lack of progress on a client matter.
Demi Perrin qualified as a solicitor in June 2022 into the family department at Blackpool firm Blackhurst Budd, having joined the firm in 2019 and later securing a training contract.
After being off work for two weeks for health reasons, Perrin contacted a colleague in early 2023, asking her to hide a file.
The colleague refused and subsequently reported Perrin to her line manager, according to the decision from Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT). When the firm looked up the file, it found that Perrin had not lodged a first registration application with HM Land Registry as she was supposed to have done, and that no action had been taken on the file since July 2022.
Perrin was then called into a meeting with the firm’s managing director, where she insisted that she had filed the application. She also denied having told the colleague to hide the file, claiming she was “confused” why that was being said.
When the firm checked with the Land Registry as to whether she had filed, they confirmed no application had ever been received. Perrin continued to insist this was down to a system error before relenting and admitting that she had not sent it.
Perrin was then signed off work for three months by her GP and, on returning, admitted that she had lied to the firm’s managing director. She emailed the firm, saying that: “I accept this took place and regret this… I cannot excuse my actions. In hindsight, I was not mentally or physically ready to return to the office following my hospitalisation. I have made a serious error of judgment under extreme circumstances.”
She was dismissed for gross misconduct in 2023 and has not worked as a solicitor since, according to the ruling.
Perrin was struck off the roll of solicitors, with the tribunal finding that she had “multiple opportunities to be open and honest with her employer but instead continued with her false account to avoid potential professional criticism”. The strike-off was an agreed outcome with the SRA, and the tribunal made no order for costs.