8 December 2016
Unregistered barrister Philip Pawson was ordered to be disbarred by an independent disciplinary Tribunal at a hearing on Wednesday 7 December, following charges brought by the barristers' regulator.
The Tribunal's decision follows Mr Pawson's disqualification from holding a company directorship in 2015 for eight years. This disqualification and his subsequent disbarment from the Bar concerns the fact that as the director of a number of companies Mr Pawson paid himself a salary for work he had not done, and charged six of those companies £5000 each for the same piece of legal work. He also relied upon a false contract of employment in the court case considering his disqualification as a company director, and in so doing allowed the court to believe it was a genuine document when he knew it was not.
Mr Pawson was Called to the Bar in 1999, but has never practised as a barrister.
A BSB spokesperson said: "Dishonesty is incompatible with the standards expected from all members of the Bar. The Tribunal's decision to disbar Mr Pawson reflects this."
ENDS
Notes to editors
About Philip Raymond Pawson
Mr Pawson was Called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in July 1999.
About disciplinary tribunals
The appointment, operation, and decisions (including sentencing) of disciplinary tribunal panels are performed by the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service (BTAS). BTAS is run independently of the Bar Standards Board, the barristers' regulator, which is responsible for bringing charges of professional misconduct against barristers. These charges are then adjudicated on by BTAS' tribunal panels.
About the Bar Standards Board
Our mission is to regulate barristers and their professional practice and specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales in the public interest. For more information about what we do visit: http://bit.ly/1gwui8t
Contact: For all media enquiries call: 0207 611 1452 or email[email protected].
