Charlotte
Eaton
Employee
7819209
Decision - Employee-related decision
Outcome: Control of non-qualified staff (Section 43 / Section 99 order)
Outcome date: 3 July 2026
Published date: 10 July 2026
Firm details
Firm or organisation at time of matters giving rise to outcome
Name: National Legal Service Ltd
Address(es): Dowgate Hill House, 14-16 Dowgate Hill, London. EC4R 2SU
Firm ID: 639352
Outcome details
This outcome was reached by SRA decision.
Decision details
Who does this decision relate to?
Ms Charlotte Eaton whose last known address was in Tipton, West Midlands.
A person who is or was involved in a legal practice but is not a solicitor.
Summary of decision
The SRA has put restrictions on where and how Ms Eaton can work in an SRA regulated firm. It was found that:
Ms Eaton who is not a solicitor, was involved in a legal practice and has occasioned or been a party to an act or default which involved such conduct on her part that it is undesirable for her to be involved in a legal practice in any of the ways described in the order below.
The facts of the case
On 7 March 2025, Ms Eaton agreed to assist her colleague, by completing a means and merits form with a client of the firm ('the applicant'). Whilst doing so, she mistakenly rang the applicant's partner who was the respondent in the matter. However, when questioned, she denied having made the call and provided an altered screenshot of her call log, in support of her denial.
Decision on outcome
An order pursuant to section 43(2) of the Solicitors Act 1974 was imposed as Ms Eaton's conduct meant that it was undesirable for her to be involved in a legal practice without the SRA's prior approval. The order pursuant to section 43 was made with effect from the date of the letter or email notifying Ms Eaton of this decision:
Ms Eaton's conduct was serious because it was dishonest.
Ms Eaton was also ordered to pay a proportion of the SRA's costs of £600.
What our Section 43 order means
- no solicitor shall employ or remunerate her in connection with his/her practice as a solicitor;
- no employee of a solicitor shall employ or remunerate her in connection with the solicitor's practice;
- no recognised body shall employ or remunerate her;
- no manager or employee of a recognised body shall employ or remunerate her in connection with the business of that body;
- no recognised body or manager or employee of such a body shall permit her to be a manager of the body; and
- no recognised body or manager or employee of such a body shall permit her to have an interest in the body
except in accordance with the SRA's prior written permission.
Other information
Ms Eaton was ordered to pay £600 in relation to the SRA's costs for investigating this matter.