James Counsell acts in disbarment of dishonest barrister

James Counsell represented the Bar Standards Board (BSB) in disciplinary proceedings brought against a Bahamas based barrister for dishonestly declaring he had a degree from the University of London when he did not. After a two-day hearing on 2 and 3 November 2015, an independent disciplinary tribunal ordered that the barrister, Mr Shavon Bethel, should be disbarred from the Bar of England and Wales.

This decision followed the BSB taking enforcement action against Mr Bethel after it had emerged that he had falsely claimed to have been awarded an LLB law degree by the University of London. To back up this claim, Mr Bethel produced fake degree certificates dated March and July 2005.

Mr Bethel made the false claim in 2006, when he applied to become a student member of Inner Temple. He relied on the same false claim when he was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 2013.

An appeal is pending.

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News 27 Nov, 2015