Solicitor stole £100k from clients for bills

Mar 14 2008 by Neil Atkinson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

A CROOKED lawyer took almost £100,000 from bereaved clients and used the cash to pay her tax bill, a hearing was told.

University of Huddersfield law lecturer Lorraine Miers, 49, blamed her cheating husband, who had an affair with one of her students, for financial difficulties, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard.

Miers was a salaried partner in the Leeds firm Lee Priestley based in Eastern Parade and head of the firm’s private client department before she was struck off.

“Following an internal investigation, the firm discovered that Mrs Miers had withdrawn money held by the firm in respect of probate files for two clients and had taken money for her own personal use,” said Mr Robert Roscoe, for the Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority.

Miers took £72,450 from the estate of one client using 32 of the firm’s cheques.

Most of the cheques were then payable to ‘Yorkshire Bank’ so it would be difficult to trace where the money had gone.

“Three cheques were payment to the Inland Revenue in respect of her personal tax,” Mr Roscoe said.

Miers took another £23,980 from the estate of another client using 13 cheques and took £98,334 in total.

When the firm discovered the money was missing she agreed to pay back the cash together with £43,000 in interests and costs.

Miers refused to be interviewed by the Law Society about the scandal.

The solicitor, who has practiced for 24 years admitted three allegations including dishonestly withdrawing money from clients’ accounts.

Miers' barrister John Mehrzad said Miers worked for the University of Huddersfield as a law lecturer but could not attend the hearing because of her mental health problems.

“Her relationship with her husband has been a very bad influence on Mrs Miers for quite some time,” Merhzad said.

“There is a history of affairs being entered into by her husband. The first one was when her son Jordan was two years old.

“She introduced him to one of her students quite innocently at a social event which led to her husband entering into an affair.

“Her husband no longer lives with her or supports her and lives with a new girlfriend and has even bought a new house for the girlfriend.

“As a consequence of him leaving her she ended up covering all the bills.

“She suffered dire financial hardship. It was in these circumstances these events happened.”

Miers has taken out a series of loans and mortgages and faces interest-only payments of £1,540 a month.

Mr Mehrzad said Miers suffers from depression and poor health, taking 13 different tablets a day.

She said in a statement: “I have no desire to return to private practice and will not do so. I just want to go on teaching.”

Her boss at the University of Huddersfield said the college would ‘reserve its position’ on her future employment depending on the outcome of the hearing.

Tribunal chairman Roger Wolfe said: “This is an extremely serious case.

“'Nonetheless she has been guilty of 46 acts of theft over a three year period.”

Miers was struck off and ordered to pay costs of £10,000.