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An ex-solicitor has been handed a two-year suspended sentence for failing to transfer a divorce settlement payment of £132,000 to a client.

Analiza Kjaer, who was formerly a sole practitioner at Able Law, in Wimbledon, was instructed by Elena Tomsa, a wife in a divorce matter. In 2020, Able Law received settlement money of £132k in three instalments. 

Tomsa sent multiple chasers to Kjaer for the settlement money. However, the elusive solicitor replied just once, apologising for the delay, and asking for the client's bank details; but then ignored all subsequent emails from the client.

The SRA investigated and discovered that Able Law's client account had a balance of around £64k, with the remaining funds unaccounted for, leaving the divorced wife thousands of pounds out of pocket. A compensation fund from the legal profession had to be used to stump up the rest of the settlement money for Tomsa.

When the SRA visited Able Law's office, it appeared to be impersonating the Mary Celeste, as the regulator reported that Kjaer had "vacated" it "some time prior to the visit." The SRA shut down the firm and the SDT struck Kjaer off the roll for acting "dishonestly and without integrity".

Tomsa reported Kjaer to the police, and the matter has now been heard at the Old Bailey. Her Honour Judge Trowler KC stated that Kjaer had dealt with her client's money "as though it belonged to you". It transpired that Kjaer also owed money to HM Revenue & Customs, according to a report in the Law Gazette. 

Tomsa said in a victim impact statement, that she "fell apart" as a result of the former lawyer’s misconduct. The incident caused her "great distress" and "she was unable to sleep...lost weight and had to move into her daughter’s home temporarily." When she was finally given the settlement funds, property prices had shot up (compared to when she was planning to buy in 2021) and so she was unable to get the type of home she had been planning to purchase.

Kjaer admitted fraud by abuse of position. In a written statement to the court, she expressed "genuine remorse" and said, in personal mitigation, that her actions had been because she was "escaping an abusive marriage." 

The judge gave the former solicitor a two-year sentence, suspended, and ordered that she must complete 100 hours of unpaid work. 

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