Solicitor struck off for butting rival lawyer in High Court

A PROPERTY solicitor who butted a developer in the High Court during a £100 million legal battle has been struck off.

Philip Saunders, 69, was captured on CCTV at the Royal Courts of Justice in London lunging forward to hit Mohammad Reza Ghadami, who was left with a broken nose and blood streaming down his face. He had to be taken to hospital for surgery.

Saunders said he lost his temper after Mr Ghadami made a “vile antisemitic comment”, but did not give further details of the exact words used.

He told the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal: “I am an observant religious Jew. I have a high moral standard. I completely lost all self-control as a result of this comment he made.

“I am bitterly ashamed that I lost my temper. I am not trying to justify my actions, but to put them into perspective.

“I cannot see how my behaviour on that day in the face of a raw antisemitic comment negates the way I behaved and behave since.”

After a three-hour hearing, Edward Nelly, chairman of the disciplinary panel, said the panel found Saunders had failed to act with integrity.

Mr Nelly said: “You were convicted for a criminal assault. We have reflected on that and the initial unhappy context – as an unwise engagement with Mr Ghadami in the Rolls Building about the subject of costs.

“We have considered what the behaviour of Mr Saunders demonstrates, on that unhappy day, and we accept the submissions of both persons that a single act may constitute a lack of integrity. We are sorry to find that allegation proved, while understanding the explanation Mr Saunders has offered. We must not conflate mitigation with fact.”

Saunders was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence after being convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Inner London Crown Court in January last year.

CCTV footage showed Mr Ghadami blocking Saunders from passing him in the court during an exchange in April 2016. The pair had been involved on opposing sides in a land dispute. When Mr Ghadami swung his case between Saunders’ legs, Saunders lunged forward and butted him. Mr Ghadami said the assault came “out of the blue”. Both men attended the misconduct hearing in central London.

Saunders, who has been a solicitor for more than 40 years, said he had stopped practising after the incident. He admitted failing to uphold the law and failing to maintain public trust and confidence in the profession, but denied failing to act with integrity.

Saunders was struck off the roll of solicitors and ordered to pay £4,611 in costs.