A conveyancing and family law firm based in Preston has been shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
The regulator made the decision to close Gowlings Solicitors Limited on Tuesday, citing reasons as protecting the interests of clients and beneficiaries linked to the firm.
Gowlings was initially issued with a rebuke back in July due to its “failure to comply with an undertaking within the agreed timescale” when acting for a seller in a conveyancing transaction.
The firm provided an undertaking to the buyer’s solicitor to redeem the mortgage attached to the property on or prior to completion, the SRA stated, and did not obtain a redemption statement before agreeing to the undertaking.
Gowlings was labelled as “reckless” in its actions, as it transpired the sale proceeds were insufficient to discharge the mortgage in full and the sellers had insufficient funds to meet the balance – it was ordered to pay costs of £600.
In a statement on the firm’s recent closure, the SRA said: “It is necessary to intervene to protect the interests of clients or former clients, the interests of beneficiaries of any trust of which Gowlings Solicitors Limited is or was a trustee, or the interests of the beneficiaries of any trust of which a person who is or was a manager or employee of Gowlings Solicitors Limited is or was a trustee in that person’s capacity as a manager or employee (paragraph 32(1)(e) of Schedule 2 to the Administration of Justice Act 1985).”
Lester Aldridge LLP has been appointed as the intervening agent in the closure of the business, with a message visible on the firm’s website stating the SRA has “closed down the practice” and Gowlings can “no longer act for its clients”.
The notice informed clients that any files held at the offices of Gowlings have been removed and are being held by the SRA, along with any monies from the firm’s bank accounts, due to these being frozen by the regulator.
