The plagues will fall on you, just like Pharaoh: Christian lawyer who uttered biblical curses on rival lawyer’s head in a series of emails is dropped for serious misconduct
- Lawyer Alvin Just, 51, sent “inappropriate” emails to lawyer Philip Noble
- He warned, “You’re just fading one step closer to your grave,” it sounded
A devout Christian lawyer who uttered biblical curses over the head of a rival lawyer via email has been disbarred for serious misconduct.
Lawyer Alvin just sent ‘inappropriate and unprofessional’ emails to lawyer Philip Noble after an altercation during a will dispute at Central London County Court in 2017.
“You just fade one step closer to your grave..I won’t lose sleep over your nonsense, as I know the plagues will fall on you just like Pharaoh…You remind (me) of a grade 7 bully “I had to hit the ground,” he told Mr. Noble.
Messages were also sent to Mr. Noble’s client, warning: ‘Your judgment is coming soon, beware, and it will not be easy, the Most High knows it. Remember, whoever digs a pit will fall into it.’
Mr Just, 51, a partner at London-based firm Just & Brown Solicitors, was taken to a disciplinary court last year after Mr Noble raised concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) about emails he had received and other matters.
Attorney Alvin Just (pictured) sent a series of “inappropriate” emails to attorney Philip Noble
In his defence, Mr Just did not accept that his comments were ‘inappropriate’ and argued that Mr Noble had a ‘serious vendetta’ against him.
He also claimed that quoting passages from the Bible was not in violation of his duties and to be accused in connection therewith was a violation of his own human rights.
But in a ruling published earlier this month, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal stressed: “Even in the context of hostile litigation, members of the public would expect lawyers to be robust but moderate in the language they used when dealing with the other party. communicated.
“That expectation was even higher when that communication was with the lay customer.”
The tribunal also noted that while Mr Just’s expression of ‘frustration and annoyance’ towards Mr Noble was deemed ‘inappropriate’, it comments were not perceived as ‘offensive or threatening’.
“By communicating the way he did, Mr. Just could not have maintained the trust the public placed in him,” it added.
Allegations were also being considered in relation to the lawyer’s handling of a case involving a will and also his response to the SRA’s investigation into him.
The tribunal ruled that Mr Just had failed to ensure that a client’s money was kept separate in a special ‘client account’.
One of Mr. Just’s emails warned ‘you’re just fading one step closer to your grave’
He also did not cooperate with the SRA’s investigation into his property “deliberately withheld information and misled the SRA on a number of material matters,” it read.
“The tribunal found that ordinary and decent people would find that a lawyer who had knowingly lied and misled his supervisor during an investigation into his conduct had acted unfairly,” it added.
It was concluded that ‘the only appropriate and proportionate sanction, given the seriousness of Mr Just’s conduct, was to remove him from the list of lawyers’.
He was also ordered to pay costs of £41,896.20.
