A solicitor has been jailed and struck from the roll after stealing from vulnerable clients in a fraud involving Lasting Powers of Attorney. Alison Haley Griffiths, who specialised in wills and probate was convicted of fraud totalling over £85,000 and sentenced to 24 months in prison at Salisbury Crown Court. A subsequent Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) ruled that Griffiths’ conduct represented a grave abuse of trust and that no lesser sanction than removing her from the roll would suffice to protect the public and uphold the integrity of the profession.
Griffiths worked at Regulatory Law Limited from February 2018. She became an authorised signatory in October of that year and was listed as a director from August 2019. Her misconduct occurred while acting under Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPA) for two vulnerable individuals, referred to as Client A and Person B.
The first offence took place between 1 December 2018 and 20 February 2021, during which Griffiths misappropriated £49,482.52 from Client A’s bank account. The funds were siphoned through ATM withdrawals and direct transfers to Griffiths’ personal account. Evidence later revealed that the stolen money was used to purchase goods and finance a holiday.
The misconduct came to light on 8 April 2021, when Griffiths admitted her actions to Iain Mason, Head of Legal at the firm. Mason reported the matter to Wiltshire Police and submitted a formal report to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) the following day.
Griffiths was interviewed by police on 24 June 2021, where she confirmed that she had acted independently and was not under duress.
However, the situation worsened in September 2021, when Person B’s family was contacted due to missed care payments. Investigations revealed that Griffiths had also misappropriated £35,790 from Person B between 1 March and 1 October 2021, again while acting under an LPA.
Griffiths pleaded guilty to both offences—first on 4 August 2023 for the fraud involving Person B, and again on 6 December 2023 for the offence against Client A. She was sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently.
The case was brought to the SDT in August 2025 with the outcome agreed by both parties. Griffiths admitted all allegations, which included breaches of SRA Principles 2011 and Code of Conduct 2011. In its judgment, the Tribunal stated:
“Within the sphere of regulatory and disciplinary conduct there could be no mitigation to minimise the harm. The Respondent’s misconduct could only be viewed as extremely serious and no sanction less than a strike off would be sufficient to protect the public and the reputation of the profession.”
The Tribunal ordered that Griffiths be struck off the Roll of Solicitors, effective immediately. No order for costs was made.
