Same hours, 3 cheques | Solicitor struck off for working three jobs from home

A solicitor has been struck off the roll after it was found she was working for three separate law firms at the same time while misleading each of them about her employment status and submitting overlapping timesheets to claim payment for the same hours.

Belinda Owusuah Sarkodie admitted to the roll in July 2020, was removed from the profession after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) found she had acted dishonestly and in breach of multiple core professional principles over a period between June and July 2021.

The tribunal ruled that Sarkodie (the respondent) misled her full-time employer and two locum firms by purporting to work full-time hours for each simultaneously while working from home. The tribunal ordered that she be struck off and pay £8,891.50 in costs.

Same hours, three jobs, three paycheques

The tribunal heard that between 29 June and 16 July 2021, Sarkodie submitted timesheets to both Property Legal (PLS) and Wright & Lord Solicitors Limited (W&L), “claiming payment for the same hours on the same dates from both firms,” while also “employed to work full time by a third law firm” called Muve.