By Maria Ward-Brennan
In a long-running legal fight, the legal regulator is set to face a former human rights lawyer for an appeal on her second prison sentence.
Sophia Khan, formerly of Sophie Khan & Co Ltd, was struck off the rollback in 2022, after all 12 allegations against her, including dishonestly, were found proven by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Once a person is ‘stuck off’, they are prohibited from acting as a lawyer and cannot legally practice as one.
Khan set up her Leicester-based practice Sophie Khan & Co back in 2013. But in August 2021, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) intervened to close down the law firm on the grounds that they suspected “dishonesty on the part of Sophia Khan.”
Khan was once the chair of the Law Society’s civil justice committee. She is also an outspoken activist through appearances in the media on campaigns against the use of tasers in routine policing and police reforms.
After the SRA decision, she announced via X (Twitter) that her law firm had “taken over” by a separate company, Just for Public Ltd, as she stated that “client work continues as normal.” But the SRA then obtained an injunction to stop her from acting as a lawyer through Just for Public in November 2021.
In the same month, she was found to have breached two High Court orders calling on her to hand over documents, which resulted in a warrant for her arrest being issued.
She was sentenced to six months in prison for refusing to comply with two separate court orders. She served three months before being released.
Then in 2023, she was sentenced again over contempt of court, this time Mr Justice Leech handed her a 12-month sentence. He also ordered to make an interim costs payment to the SRA of £100,000.
According to Legal Futures, it was also noted at the hearing that the judge relied on an interview she gave to City A.M., which quoted her as saying that she refused to hand the documents over as her clients had claims against the state. Khan did give City A.M. an exclusive interview in May 2022 in which she said she refused to hand the documents over as her clients “have cases against the police and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).”
The 12-month sentence and costs order were ‘stayed’ to allow Khan to appeal, which she did.
The parties are at the Court of Appeal which starts today (Tuesday), and the trial is set to run until Thursday. There will be a decision made at the commencement of the hearing whether this case should be live-streamed.
