Lawyer Disbarred For Diverting Client Fees To Personal Account — UK Tribunal Rules Motive Was To Evade Chambers Fees And Profit Personally

A former prosecutor has been disbarred after a tribunal found that he acted dishonestly in invoicing a client for legal fees, directing payments to his personal bank account instead of through his chambers, according to the Bar Standards Board report.

Ravi Sidhu, called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1988, had been instructed through Citadel Chambers in Birmingham to represent a client in an inquest. Sidhu prepared five invoices, totalling more than £44,000, four of which were paid, but the final £6,510 was waived by Sidhu himself. The invoices were issued on chambers’ letter-headed paper, but Sidhu asked for the payments to be made to his personal bank account.

Sidhu denied the allegations of dishonesty, claiming his actions were an honest mistake. He explained to the Bar Tribunals & Adjudication Service that he assumed chambers were aware of the work and invoicing. However, the tribunal found the charges against Sidhu to be substantiated.

The panel heard that Sidhu, a former Crown Prosecution Service lawyer and deputy coroner who is now retired, had paid the £6,593 owed to chambers once he realised there were issues with his conduct. Despite this, the tribunal concluded that Sidhu’s actions were dishonest, as he had created a misleading impression to both the client and the instructing solicitor regarding the management of the case and the invoicing process.

The tribunal found that Sidhu’s motivation was to avoid paying fees to chambers for work he had undertaken, instead attempting to personally profit from the situation. The chair of the tribunal, Her Honour Sara Staite, noted that the dates in Sidhu’s diary, which were marked as holidays during the inquest, did not align with the chambers’ system records, further reinforcing the dishonesty of his actions.

Sidhu’s client, who had recently been bereaved, was “extremely surprised and distressed” to discover that the work was not done under chambers and that the fees, amounting to over £40,000, had been paid directly to Sidhu. The tribunal said that by using chambers letter-headed paper and sending misleading invoices, Sidhu had created a false impression of his actions.

Given the seriousness of the case, the tribunal ruled that Sidhu’s conduct warranted disbarment. The client’s vulnerability and Sidhu’s failure to maintain the integrity of the profession led to the tribunal’s decision. In addition to disbarment, Sidhu was ordered to pay £3,000 in costs.

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