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Judgment handed down in The Law Society v Pathania

On 10th October 2017 Judgment was given in The Law Society v Pathania [2017] EWHC 2496 (Ch).

James Ramsden QC appeared for The Law Society of England & Wales.

The judgment definitively addresses the scope of the statutory trust created in favour of the Law Society on intervention into a solicitor's practice. The Law Society successfully argued that the scope of the trust extends to the right to recover monies which emanated from client account but did not stand to its credit on the date of intervention. The Society also successfully argued that the trust extends to money unlawfully taken from client account but subsequently replaced by the solicitor. The judgment resolved conflicting authorities spanning 30 years and provides to the Law Society and the Compensation Fund administered by the SRA a new and powerful remedy on intervention.