Chaida Aboobakar
Employee
7027933

Decision - Employee-related decision

Outcome: Control of non-qualified staff (Section 43 / Section 99 order)

Outcome date: 12 March 2025

Published date: 17 March 2025

Firm details

Firm or organisation at time of matters giving rise to outcome

Name: New Law Solicitors

Address(es): Helmont House, Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HE

Firm ID: 567578

Outcome details

This outcome was reached by SRA decision.

Decision details

Who does this decision relate to?

Chaida Aboobakar, who is not a solicitor, was employed by NewLaw Solicitors - whose head office is at Helmont House, Churchill Way, Cardiff - between 14 February 2022 and September 2023. During this time she was seconded to Ageas Law LLP, a Business Partner of NewLaw.

Summary of decision

A finding of dishonesty was made against Ms Aboobakar and she was made subject to a disqualification order under section 99 of the Legal Services Act 2007.

The SRA has disqualified Ms Aboobakar from holding any of the following roles in law firms regulated by the SRA:

• Head of Legal Practice
• Head of Finance and Administration
• A manager
• An employee

Reasons/basis

The facts of the case

Ms Aboobakar was employed by NewLaw as a paralegal working on personal injury cases. One of the cases she was working on was struck out for non-payment of a court fee. Ms Aboobakar thought she had paid it but she had put the wrong case number on the payment request.

Ms Aboobakar tried to cover up the mistake by sending to the Court a fabricated email purporting to show the correct claim number. This email did not match the original held on the Court file.

Ms Aboobaker filed an application for Relief against Sanction, accompanied by a witness statement exhibiting the fabricated email, blaming court error for the non-payment. Ms Aboobakar instructed Counsel on this basis and made similar representations to solicitors for the counter-party. Ms Aboobakar maintained this fiction over a period of some 4 months.

As a result of concerns raised by the Judge conducting the Relief hearing, NewLaw conducted an internal investigation which concluded that the email originally sent by Ms Aboobakar to the Court containing the incorrect case number was the only one sent.

It was found that Ms Aboobakar had deliberately tried to mislead the Court, Counsel and solicitors for the counter-party and had fabricated documentation placed before the Court. In doing so, she acted dishonestly and without integrity.

Our decision on sanction

Ms Aboobakar's conduct breached relevant duties that applied to her as an employee of the Firm; namely, paragraph 1.4 of the Code of Conduct for Firms (not to mislead the court or others), Principle 4, to act with honesty and Principle 5, to act with integrity

It was found that it would be undesirable for Ms Aboobakar to act as a Head of Legal Practice, Head of Finance and Administration, a manager or an employee of a body licensed in accordance with section 99 of the Legal Services Act 2007.

Ms Aboobakar was disqualified from holding any of these roles.

She was also directed to pay costs of £600