Ex-Stephenson Harwood staffer banned after lying about working from the office

A former compliance officer at City firm Stephenson Harwood has been barred from working in the legal profession after lying to colleagues about his whereabouts at work.

Dylan Patel, who was employed as a compliance officer at the firm, has been given a Section 43 order by the SRA, meaning he cannot work in any regulated legal practice without the watchdog’s permission. He was also ordered to pay £600 towards the SRA’s costs.

Not in the office

The SRA found that Patel acted dishonestly after repeatedly claiming he was working from the firm’s office on 29 November 2024 when he was in fact working from home.

According to the regulator’s decision published last month, Patel had been required by the firm to attend the office that day. When a senior colleague attempted to locate him, he sought to deter her by claiming he was too busy to meet and saying he was on the first floor of the building.

The SRA said Patel then continued to mislead colleagues during investigatory meetings, insisting that he had been in the office. The regulator said he provided detailed and false accounts of how he had been let into the building by a security guard after forgetting his pass, where he had been sitting, the times he arrived and left, and even claimed he had connected to the firm’s WiFi from his desk.

Stephenson Harwood ended his employment in December 2024 for gross misconduct. The SRA said that his conduct was dishonest and that it was "undesirable for him to be involved in a legal practice" without its permission.

Regulator clampdown

The case is the latest example of the SRA using its powers against non-lawyers at major firms.

Over the past year, the regulator has issued a series of bans against paralegals and business services staff. In March, the SRA banned a former Macfarlanes paralegal after she accessed assessment materials to gain an advantage at a training contract assessment day.

In May, a former project coordinator at Eversheds Sutherland was barred after creating invoices for work the firm had agreed to carry out on a pro bono basis. And in July, a former Cooley paralegal was barred after admitting to faking a client’s signature on a key transaction document.