A clerk practiced as a solicitor for 15 years with

A clerk practiced as a solicitor for 15 years without permission from the Law Society, a disciplinary tribunal heard today.

(THURS)

Amazingly, Ralph Carpenter had all the necessary legal qualifications to be a lawyer, but he simply failed to send off for a certificate.

When the Law Society discovered his secret they sent letters to Carpenter’s employers demanding an answer.

But the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal heard the clerk intercepted the mail to avoid further trouble.

In a plea for clemency from the panel the remorseful clerk spoke of the pressure of keeping his secret:

‘It was like having some sort of terminal disease that would kill you sooner or later.

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Mr Carpenter today admitted two allegations; that he practised or held himself as a solicitor when not entitled to do so; and that he intercepted correspondence from the OSS to his employers.

Opening what he described as an ‘unusual case’ for the Law Society, David Barton told the panel Carpenter completed all his studies and law articles.

‘Mr Carpenter then for some reason failed to have himself enrolled as a solicitor.

This occurred from 1985 until the matter came to light in the middle of 1999.

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Representing himself the clerk admitted that his mitigation would ‘look like a series of lame excuses.

‘I’m obviously very sorry, very embarrassed, and very frightened.

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He explained how he had worked for other law firms, before joining Harraps in Oxted, Surrey in 1993.

The tribunal heard his name, with the job title of consultant, had been printed on the firm’s notepaper and he spent most of his time doing conveyancing work.

But when the Law Society became aware he was posing as a lawyer they began sending letters from their base in Leamington Spa.

Carpenter said he recognised the postmark and decided to take action:

‘It wasn’t like secretly stealing into the office to steal them.

I was hard-working, conscientious.

I used to get into the office first in the morning.

‘I just thought it would go away.

I just couldn’t deal with it.

I didn’t even open them.

‘I don’t know how wrong I have been.

I don’t know if what I have done is absolutely terrible of if I have just been an idiot.

‘Or what just a little bit of paperwork could have put right at any time.

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‘It’s been a nightmare for the last 15 years.

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Since leaving the firm he said he now works as a minibus driver to support his wife and two children.

The panel ordered that Mr Carpenter, of Martins Imberhome Lane, East Grinstead, cannot work as a clerk unless the law firm employing him has received written permission from the Law Society.

He was also ordered to pay costs of pnds stlg 881.

25.

But chairman David Faull sympathised with his position: ‘We hope you find a way forward and wish you well.

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ends