Lawyer struck off after lying on CV for Squire Patton Boggs role

An in-house City lawyer has been struck off after admitting to lying about his academic record while applying for a new role at Squire Patton Boggs.

Vishal Patel, who was an in-house lawyer at Aviva at the time, was struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal after admitting all the allegations against him, with the tribunal finding his conduct amounted to serious and sustained dishonesty.

The misconduct

Patel qualified in September 2020 and had around two years’ post-qualification experience when the misconduct took place.

The case centred on his attempts to move into private practice in 2022. While exploring the market, he submitted a CV to recruitment agency Robert Walters for a funds role at Squire Patton Boggs. The CV contained several falsehoods about his education and qualifications.

Among them, Patel claimed to have obtained a first-class law degree from Aston University. In fact, the tribunal found he had received a 2:2 from Birmingham City University. The CV also misstated where and when he studied, as well as aspects of his work experience.

The inaccuracies came to light during pre-employment checks after Squire Patton Boggs made a conditional offer. The firm ultimately withdrew the offer and reported the matter to the SRA.

In a meeting with Squire Patton Boggs, Patel said that he had “created a persona” he believed was required for private practice, before later acknowledging he had falsified information to try to secure a role.

The tribunal’s decision

The SDT described the behaviour as deliberate and motivated by personal gain, involving “serious acts of dishonesty committed over a period of six months”.

In striking Patel off the roll, the tribunal said there were no exceptional circumstances that could justify a lesser sanction.

“A solicitor must be capable of being ‘trusted to the ends of the earth’,” it said, finding that Patel’s conduct had undermined public confidence in the profession.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £5,313.