A Burscough solicitor misused £170,000 of client funds in a desperate attempt to keep his business afloat.
Pilkington’s wrongdoing was uncovered during an investigation by the SRA and led to perilous financial state of the business to be realised. This prompted a further sanction for his failure to disclose the financial crisis.The 50-year-old was struck off by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal earlier this year and has now been hit with a seven year ban on running businesses by the Insolvency Service.
Problems were made worse when a move into cavity wall disputes wound up costing money rather than generating it, and the purchase of a caseload of a retiring solicitor also did not lead to the rewards it appeared to promise. Indeed, it instead led the firm’s insurance premiums to increase by 10 times.