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A stalking conviction, misleading emails, and claims of acting as a vulnerable woman’s “next of kin” have resulted in a solicitor being struck off the roll.
A UK solicitor has been struck off the roll after being convicted of stalking and found to have misled the family of a vulnerable woman by falsely claiming he had authority over her care and affairs.
Admitted as a solicitor in October 1993, Adrian Robert Berkeley had not held a practising certificate for more than a decade but remained involved in the legal sector as the co-founder of Manchester-based legal services provider LawFriend.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) heard that Berkeley first came into contact with the woman, identified in proceedings as “Ms G”, after meeting her at a speed-dating event before later contacting two of her sons.
In an email sent to both men on 27 December 2023, Berkeley claimed he had been instructed by their mother that he was acting as her “next of kin” and that they had been removed from their roles, meaning they were to have no further involvement in her care.
The correspondence also stated that Berkeley was setting a “charging rate of £500 per hour” (approximately $955) and claimed that their mother intended to transfer her property to him.
The tribunal described Ms G as a “vulnerable individual” who had experienced “significant mental health issues” and had previously been detained as a result of those circumstances.
The email and Berkeley’s claims prompted one of the sons to report him to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) on 29 January 2024, raising concerns about his conduct towards their mother.
During the investigation, the SRA uncovered evidence showing that Berkeley had been convicted of stalking a woman identified in the proceedings as “Ms A” between June and November 2023.
The offending led to his conviction at Manchester Magistrates Court in June 2024 for stalking involving serious alarm or distress, for which he received a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Recounting Berkeley’s comments during the SRA investigation, the SDT noted that he described the email as a “shot across the bow” and an attempt to “shake the tree”, adding that it had “had the desired effect”.
Ultimately, the tribunal found there was “no satisfactory evidence” that Berkeley had been instructed by “Ms G” in the manner he claimed in the email.
The tribunal also found his statement that he charged £500 an hour for mental health law services was misleading, stating that he was “not a practising solicitor, did not and never had practised mental health law, and subsequently informed the SRA that he had selected that figure by reference to rates charged by other practitioners”.
In light of its findings, the tribunal ordered that Berkeley be struck off the roll and directed him to pay the applicant’s costs of £22,608 (more than $43,000).
