Agricultural lawyer accused of misconduct to face five-day hearing

Leading agricultural lawyer Peter Rhys Williams is to face a five-day substantive hearing in November.

The decision was made by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) following a preliminary hearing on 12 April.

Mr Williams faces allegations of misconduct relating to his time when he worked at Wilsons Solicitors in Wiltshire.

A date of 28 November 2016 has been set for Mr Williams’ hearing.

See more: Agricultural lawyer accused of misconduct has hearing adjourned

The allegations against Mr Williams, which are unproven, centre around the proposed sale of a property, which was going to be sold for £2.2m and then was later going to be sold to a third party for £3.9m.

They include that he:

• Failed to act with integrity
• Failed to act in the best interests of his client
• Failed to behave in a way that maintained the trust the public placed in him and in the provision of legal services
• Took unfair advantage of third parties in his professional capacity.

The complaint against Mr Williams was made in March 2013 by Wilsons Solicitors after he had left the company, following a vote by his colleagues to terminate his employment.

At a tribunal hearing on 27 October 2015, Marianne Butler, a barrister representing the SRA, said:

“His case, in a nutshell, was that the property was being sold at its market value and that he was at all times being up front and recorded everything in the proper way,” Miss Butler added.

Mr Williams has denied all allegations.