Peter Mark Arnstein has been fined £16,000 for a “clear case of manifest incompetence” in his failure to handle three probate matters between 2010 and 2018. The charges relate to his time as the Sole Practitioner and Compliance Officer at Forman Welch and Bellamys, formerly Bellamys.
Arnstein failed to progress probate matters resulting in lasting legacies remaining unpaid, and in doing so he breached Principles 4, 5, 6 and 8 of the SRA principles 2011. One of these caused a clients to be charged £58,923 in interest and penalties in an estate worth an estimated £4 million.
Arnstein admitted to the charges which involved behaving in a way that maintains public trust, to act in the best interests of the client, to run his affairs effectively and to provide a proper standard of service, but denied acting without integrity.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) found that Arnstein had dropped his standards significantly and the “failure to process these three matters over a period of several years, despite reminders, was a clear case of manifest incompetence”. The SDT also stated:
“There was a distinction in seriousness between a solicitor who recklessly allowed a court to be misled and Mr Arnstein, who had essentially done nothing on a matter he ought to have been progressing.
Mr Arnstein was very experienced and the work he was undertaking was one that involved significant trust being placed in him. His failure to progress those matters amounted to a breach of that trust placed in him.
In assessing harm, Mr Arnstein’s failures resulted in delays in payments to beneficiaries, charities and HMRC. There was also harm to the reputation of the profession as the public would expect a solicitor to carry out his role competently and efficiently and that the wishes of the deceased should be respected within a reasonable timescale. The harm that had arisen was entirely foreseeable.”
The misconduct was made worse as the failings related to more than one file over a number of years, despite reminders to Arnstein. The Tribunal noted there was a “degree of vulnerability inherent with probate work” due to the sensitive work of dealing with estates of those recently deceased, to which Arnstein should have been aware. However, the SDT continued:
“The misconduct was mitigated by Mr Arnstein’s insight, which the Tribunal accepted was genuine. He had made full admissions at a very early stage and maintained those throughout, including before the Tribunal. It could not be described as a ‘one-off’ but it did come in the context of a previously impeccable career.
The tribunal noted that Mr Arnstein had not tried to blame anyone else or mislead his colleagues or the SRA and so he had not in any way sought to conceal his failings or avoid his responsibility for them.
The Tribunal was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Mr Arnstein had lacked integrity and it, therefore found the breach of Principle 2 (of SRA Principles 2011) not proved.”
Arnstein was fined £16,000, as well as £14,000 in costs to the SRA in court costs. Arnstein resigned in 2019 from the firm, which is now known as Coplexia.
