Law Society president resigns and faces disciplinary tribunal

David Greene, president of The Law Society, has resigned over allegations of misconduct. In January Greene was accused of lying to a judge in a case brought by a former client, leading to the High Court ruling that the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) was wrong to dismiss the prosecution brought against him. Greene, senior partner at Edwin Coe, will now “step aside” less than halfway through his one-year term as president.

In the past decade, Edwin Coe has represented director and owner of EcoPower David Davies in a suit against Transport for London (TFL). The dispute struck out by the SDT concerned more than £7,000 of unpaid legal fees based on Greene’s claim that he had not heard from Davies for “about a year” between filing cases against TFL. Davies claimed this is a lie.

Lord Justice Popplewell and Justice Garnham have concluded that the SDT was wrong to throw out the case and that it can be argued that Greene may have given evidence which was “not only misleading but deliberately so”. However, this does not express “any concluded view that Mr Greene has lied or behaved dishonestly or in breach of professional standards”, rather that the dispute should be heard again by the SDT.

Greene will officially leave his post on 19 March, at which point Stephanie Boyce will take over. Boyce is the director of Stephanie Boyce Consulting and has been vice president of The Law Society since October 2020. Meanwhile, Greene denies the allegations and says that he expects the case “to be rejected again”, citing fears that the ruling could “become a distraction from [his] role representing the solicitor profession” as the reason for resignation. Edwin Coe has said it is now seeking leave to appeal against the High Court decision.