Solicitor Dennison loses appeal over striking off
ANTHONY Dennison, a partner at Manchester personal injury firm Dennison Greer, has lost a Court of Appeal case against a High Court ruling that he should be struck off.
The matter relates to his conduct while a partner of the former Manchester firm Rowe Cohen in relation to work undertaken for The Accident Group.
Mr Dennison was fined £20,000 by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in 2009 after it found he had acted dishonestly. This was then appealed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which argued he should be struck off.
The Divisional Court agreed with the SRA and ordered Mr Dennison be struck off, a decision Mr Dennison himself appeale,d and which he has now lost.
Mr Dennison had 33% interest in a company called Legal Reports Services which provided expert evidence for claims handled by solicitors on the Accident Group’s panel, including Rowe Cohen.
He failed to disclose his interest in this company to his partners or to clients. It was alleged at the SDT that this behaviour created a conflict between his financial interests on the one hand and his and his firm’s duty to clients.
The Tribunal found he deliberately kept his interest in the company secret, he had failed to inform clients he had an interest in the company providing their medical reports, and he deliberately deceived his partners because he wanted to retain the whole benefit of the interest for himself.
The Tribunal found he had acted dishonestly.
The Court of Appeal decided that a large fine, even with a period of suspension, could not properly be regarded as an appropriate penalty.
David Middleton, SRA executive director, said: “It was important to bring the appeal against the SDT’s decision in this case to maintain the principle that a finding of dishonesty will almost invariably indicate that a solicitor is a risk to the public and therefore that strike off is the appropriate order to be made.
“We do not believe that substantial fining powers are a substitute for strike off when the risk to the public is substantial.”
Mr Dennison could not be reached for comment.
