Tribunal upholds restrictions on solicitor’s practice certificate

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has refused to lift restrictions on a solicitor’s practicing certificate (PC), stating that the solicitor failed to demonstrate the restrictions were “punitive in effect.”

The tribunal found that Kulwant Singh Manak did not provide sufficient evidence to support his claim. Manak had requested the removal of conditions preventing him from being an owner or manager of a law firm, a compliance officer, or a sole practitioner.

Background of the Case

Manak was initially suspended for two years in January 2018. Upon the suspension’s end, six conditions were imposed on his PC. The High Court later removed three of these conditions during Manak’s unsuccessful appeal against the suspension. The removed conditions related to handling client money, signing client accounts, and working outside approved employment.

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The remaining three conditions have been in place since 2020. Manak argued that these restrictions caused difficulties in finding work. However, neither a document concerning a request for further confirmation from the Land Registry nor correspondence relating to a will, which was evidence of a challenge based on Mr Manak’s regulatory history, established that he had ‘lost work as a result of the restrictions’, the SDT found.

History of Misconduct

The accusations against Mr Manak have a long history, going back to 2012, when the SDT brought proceedings against three partners, including Mr Manak, and two solicitors at Coventry firm Heer Manak. Manak, who qualified as a solicitor in 1993, was the firm’s manager, owner, and COLP. The firm closed in 2013 due to issues with indemnity insurance.

Manak’s suspension resulted from findings that he acted recklessly, breached client account rules, obtained a loan from a client without proper advice, and failed to supervise staff adequately.

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Current Employment and Rehabilitation Efforts

Mr Manak has practised with the three remaining conditions on his PC since 2020, telling the SDT he was working as a consultant solicitor at Coventry firm Maya & Co Solicitors, undertaking mainly commercial lease, wills, and probate work.However, the SDT said he not provided any documentary evidence ‘confirming his position with the firm, nor any supporting evidence from the principal, another solicitor or employee of the firm, or a client’.

On professional development and rehabilitation, Mr Manak provided certificates relating to three courses completed in 2024 but these provided ‘limited information about the content of the courses or the learning derived from them’.The tribunal was not satisfied that the certificates, backed by oral submissions, ‘demonstrated that the concerns arising from the original misconduct had been adequately addressed’.The character reference provided by Mr Manak ‘was supportive of the applicant as a professional’ but ‘general in its terms and provided little specific evidence of rehabilitation’.

The SDT rejected Manak’s application and ordered him to pay £6,670 in costs.