Geraldine Newbold SDT's CEO resigns.

Here's an example of why Solicitors despise the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and want it closed down and its replacement body completely reformed. Read the Comments by the disillusioned. I agree with them. To hell with the SDT and their vile solicitors Doyle Clayton.

Next year's eviction from premises in central London presents an 'exciting opportunity' for the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, the body said today.

In a statement following the Gazette's revelation that the SDT is being forced to look for new premises, the tribunal's president, Alison Kellett, said: 'Our current premises are being marketed for sale, which is beyond our control. However, this also provides us with an exciting opportunity to review our requirements and to align our working environment with our vision for the future.

'The world has changed radically since we initially moved into Gate House, and whilst it has been a fantastic space, our needs have changed. We will be seeking a new premises that enables easy access for all potential users of the tribunal, and that reflects the fact that many more hearings are now conducted remotely using the latest technology.

'In addition, we will be looking to reduce our carbon footprint by using a smaller space than we currently occupy, which will also provide cost efficiencies over the longer term and provide best value for our profession.

'We are totally committed to delivering on the SDT’s core responsibility, which is to provide justice to those that come before it, maintain and uphold the reputation of our profession and we will continue to focus on doing that to the best of our ability.'

The Gazette reported last week that the SDT had asked the oversight regulator for an additional £1.1m in its budget next year to pay for the move, which is expected in September.

Geoff Jeffington
Commented on: 21 November 2022 3:34pm
“the anachronistically grandiose TLS flagship building that the membership pays for”
Nailed it!
All of these organisations we are directly affected by have their snouts in the trough, whilst significant numbers of the “profession” struggle to make ends meet

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 3:25pm
Just desserts. 'Just deserts' describes Legal Aid provision.
Apologies for my pedantry.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 3:21pm
Why not relocate to the London Dudgeon and have a real live gibbet erected ...where errant solicitors will receive their just deserts.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 3:21pm
Come on, Law Society (supposedly working in the profession's best interests) -- given that the SDT is due to hold relatively few hearings in future (now that the SRA has carved out a much greater portion of the discipline pie with its new massive fining powers) and with possible regulatory reform round the corner anyway, isn't the answer obvious? Just provide the SDT with a couple of suitable rooms at 113 Chancery Lane, including a hearing space when infrequently required, all free of charge. Et voilà! A solution that reduces the overall cost of the SDT on the profession and provides a practical use for part of the anachronistically grandiose TLS flagship building that the membership pays for anyway.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 3:08pm
Given the closeness between the SDT and the SRA, why not move the SDT to a small lock-up garage behind the Cube? It can then conduct its online hearings from there. An exciting opportunity to move to new premises in Birmingham.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:58pm
Outside London for them - no need for London pricing

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:51pm
Well I have a broom cupboard under the stairs they can use. They could go to the Orkneys so nobody need bother to attend.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:50pm
"They are all next to useless, are not transparent, are expensive to run and have zero credibility. I genuinely cannot understand how any of them can be allowed by our government to continue to control all our destinies."
Anon at 1411, perhaps not coincidentally, our government is also next to useless, not transparent, expensive to run, has zero credibility and, mirabile dictu, continues to control our destinies.
Patrick Stevens Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:49pm I can just see this as Shelter's new motto, "Being evicted is an exciting opportunity."
Does the SDT live on this planet, or are they some sort of aliens? Their connection with reality suggests that they emanated from the planet Zog.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:41pm
I think they might be meaning 'exiting opportunity ' rather than 'exciting' ?
Ed - S'home mistake ?

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:34pm
What's wrong with Barnsley?

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:32pm
Plenty of existing redundant court buildings or parts of buildings they could take over at comparatively little cost. And, as others have rightly observed, no need to be in expensive central London or metropolitan city accommodation. There is plenty of eminently suitable but cheaper accommodation available in faded northern towns in need of regeneration such as Rochdale, Wigan, Burnley, Blackburn etc.
Paul Johnson Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:21pm Well eviction is only 'an exciting opportunity' if you can get someone else to pay for your exciting relocation.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:21pm
NO! They're not 'next to' useless. There's no propinquity at all.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 2:11pm
Why we have to put up with these - people - year after year after year beggars belief. I mean the SRA, SDT, LA, LO and LSB just to throw in a few initials!!
They are all next to useless, are not transparent, are expensive to run and have zero credibility. I genuinely cannot understand how any of them can be allowed by our government to continue to control all our destinies.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 1:50pm
is this the knights who say Ni what a supreme shambles that we are paying for Just goes to show how far away from the real world these people are

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 1:23pm
I agree with Karen Todner. Anything less than complete transparency from the SDT is going to mean that it can no longer be taken seriously as a tribunal which makes decisions about how solicitors should behave.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 1:21pm
The statement does not provide a satisfactory explanation of why the SDT did not accept the offer of a new 10-year lease. It seeks to present the move as attributable to the landlord's desire to sell the premises, but the sales particulars (which can be found by a simple google search) show that the premises are being offered for sale subject to existing leases (some of which are 1954 Act leases).
If having to look for new premises is an "exciting opportunity"", why did the SDT spend the profession's money refurbishing its offices at Gate House a matter of weeks ago? How much was wasted on that?
It's beginning to look like the profession's intelligence is being insulted. The real question is why did the SDT not accept the offer of a new 10-year lease, which the lessor was willing to grant to it.

Karen Todner
Commented on: 21 November 2022 1:20pm
The SDT should come out and tell us, the payers, what exactly happened. Putting a statement out like this tries to gloss over what happened rather than being upfront and open about what happened.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 12:10pm
"Vision for the future" ? With regulatory reform, the SDT doesn't have a future. It's an anachronism from pre-LSA days. Judges need to oversee the disciplinary process, not tribunals. The entire regulatory framework is going to shrink. The SDT is an obvious candidate for the chop which should have happened long ago.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 11:56am
"which will also provide cost efficiencies over the longer term and provide best value for our profession." This rather contrasts with them telling the LSB they need an additional £1M immediately. Perhaps those of us on the Roll should quit being solicitors and become consultants offering costs efficiencies over the long term and best value at a cost of £1M. Payable up front. No refunds.

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 11:44am
On Friday, I was thrilled to be sacked. When I got home, I told my partner and I am very excited to say that I am now single. I therefore went to the pub where, to my unbridled happiness, a stranger punched me in the face. With barely containable glee, I took myself off to hospital where a doctor told me that I would lose the sight in one eye, which I consider to be an amazing opportunity.

Frank Maher
Commented on: 21 November 2022 11:25am
The GMC and RICS tribunal sit in Manchester and Birmingham. The SDT will need to explain the need for London if that is the choice. (Is the old courtroom in Carey Street still there???) We should also be told how much has been spent on refurbishment at Gate House in recent times.

Marshall Hall
Commented on: 21 November 2022 11:13am
I'd hate to think of Ms Kellett's holiday plans if she calls being kicked out of their offices 'exciting'...

Anonymous
Commented on: 21 November 2022 11:02am
An exciting opportunity to.... pilfer more funds from the ex-profession?

JEFFREY SHAW, AT NETHER EDGE LAW
Commented on: 21 November 2022 10:51am
Hmm. I've never heard a tenant describe being evicted as an "exciting opportunity" To me, it sounds more like putting a brave face on a sorry situation.

She's resigned! Good riddance to this Islamophobic bigot, Geraldine Newbold who, as Chief Executive Officer of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), tried, but failed, to get me imprisoned at Wandsworth Prison for calling her and the SDT "Islamophobic-racist bigots" using David Reade Q.C at the High Court this year. £100,000 costs claimed from me: for breaching the SDT's ambush Injunction against my using 'intemperate language unbefitting a solicitor'. Geraldine Newbold's resignation as SDT CEO over the 'costly eviction' of the SDT from their City of London premises is 'Instant Karma', as the great John Lennon, would no doubt have claimed. Ha! Mrs Newbold has got her comeuppance, albeit in a roundabout way. Her judgment, obviously, stinks. What goes around, comes around.

The chief executive of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has announced her resignation. The tribunal said today that Geraldine Newbold, who had been chief executive and clerk for more than four years, has resigned from her post.

The announcement comes two weeks after it was confirmed that the SDT would have to relocate next year after its eviction from current premises at Gate House in central London. The tribunal was forced to plead for an extra £1.1m to cover the costs of the move, which was caused by the landlord’s withdrawal of the offer of a new 10-year lease.

Newbold had not commented since the announcement and has now been replaced on an interim basis by her deputy Ray Dhanowa until a full-time replacement is sought.

Alison Kellett, president of the SDT, thanked Newbold for her dedication to the organisation and added: ‘The board of the SDT retains its ambitious vision for the future as we evolve to continue to meet the needs of all our users, embrace technological advances and provide the best value for our profession and remain committed to the SDT’s core responsibility, which is to provide justice to those that come before it, maintaining and upholding the reputation of our profession.’

In the days following the eviction notice, Kellett said the move was ‘beyond our control’ but that it would provide the tribunal with an ‘exciting opportunity’ to review its requirements for the future.