The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has struck off a personal injury lawyer who inflated costs; put false information before a court; misled her insurer and ‘wrecked lives’. 

The tribunal heard that Kirna Devi Madhas had been challenged by insurers at Leeds County Court after submitting costs claims for personal injury claims.

Her firm - formerly known as GSD Law Ltd and of which she was sole director - was found to have falsely represented hourly rates in bills of costs and falsely claimed for costs, on the basis that work was carried out by a senior fee earner. Under cross-examination, Ms Madhas admitted that a conditional fee agreement (CFA) she had submitted was forged.

Her misconduct in failing to inform clients of adverse costs orders was described by the tribunal as a ‘client’s worst nightmare’.  In one instance the client was not informed of the court hearing date or the outcome of her case.  One client was quoted as saying that she was treated like a ‘throw-away commodity’ and described the impact of having a charging order made on her house over unpaid costs as ‘devastating’.  She said the main ‘ripple’ in her life was ‘the delay in starting a family because of the financial impact of having a charging order on my home’.

The tribunal found that Ms Madhas’s motivation was a ‘nakedly financial one and greed was at the heart of this matter’. 

In December 2017, the Court of Appeal rejected a challenge by GSD Law Ltd, to a ruling by District Judge Neaves that the law firm had submitted a series of dishonest costs claims.  District Judge Neaves concluded that - far from being inadvertent or careless - these mistakes were deliberate and reflected Ms Madhas’ dishonesty.

GSD Law Ltd initially sought £225,000 in costs for fourteen successful personal injury claims. The formal bills that followed totalled just under £160,000 but were later reduced to £128,000.

In addition to admitting the forged CFA during cross-examination, Ms Madhas also admitted making false allegations to the Costs Lawyer Standards Board about the conduct of Allianz’s costs lawyer, Jon Williams of Williams Associates Costs Lawyers.  These were described by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as ‘unfounded and malicious complaints’ against Mr Williams.   

They added:

“Many of her clients had suffered personal injuries and looked to her to help them obtain redress and they had not expected or deserved their vulnerabilities to be exploited by the respondent for her own gain and to find themselves in an even worse position.”

The tribunal were also informed that eleven complaints had been made about GSD Law Ltd to the Legal Ombudsman - but Ms Madhas failed to comply with any of the awards made to complainants.

Ms Madhas was not present at the disciplinary hearing and put forward no mitigation. She was struck off and ordered to pay costs of £40,000.