A lawyer has been disbarred for falsely claiming to have worked more than 24 hours in a single day. Samina Ahmed, 46, made these claims in an attempt to secure a bonus of up to £70,000. The Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal determined that her timesheets were fraudulent, marking her actions as a serious breach of professional integrity.
For over 17 years, Ahmed served as a prison law solicitor at Tucker Solicitors in Manchester. The tribunal found that, on 133 occasions, she recorded hours that exceeded the actual time available in a day. This included instances where she claimed to have worked a total of 7,511.70 hours over 266 days, averaging more than 28 hours per day.
The fraudulent activity came to light between July 2021 and June 2022. During this period, Ahmed’s work was funded by the publicly financed Legal Aid Agency, amounting to £98,093 which ultimately had to be reimbursed by her employer. Despite being warned about her behaviour in an April 2022 meeting, she continued to falsify her timesheets, aiming to claim the maximum possible bonus at the firm, which could reach 400 percent of her typical salary.
The tribunal concluded that her actions displayed a lack of honesty and integrity, stating that she “failed to uphold public trust and confidence in the profession.” The seriousness of her conduct warranted the decision to strike her off the solicitors’ Roll, which the tribunal deemed fair and proportionate given the potential harm to the profession’s reputation.
In addition to being struck off, Ahmed was ordered to pay £5,000 in costs, reduced from £49,600 due to her current financial situation. She is now employed as an apprentice with Wigan Council, where she indicated that her income is only slightly higher than what she earned in retail jobs. As a single parent of three children, Ahmed also receives universal credit and child benefit.
The tribunal took her limited financial circumstances into account when determining the costs associated with her disbarment. Despite her challenges, it emphasized that her dishonest behaviour could not be overlooked, as it posed a significant threat to the integrity of the legal profession.
