A senior solicitor has been struck off the Roll of Solicitors following a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) hearing which found he had acted dishonestly in concealing assets during his divorce proceedings and misused his firm’s client account.
Matthew Stephen Becker, formerly a partner and Compliance Officer for Legal Practice at Curtis Law LLP, appeared before the SDT in a three-day hearing held from 23 to 25 June 2025. The panel found Becker had breached the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Code of Conduct and acted without integrity and dishonestly in his dealings with both the Family Court and his former spouse.
Becker, admitted as a solicitor in 2000, was accused by the SRA of failing to disclose over £23,000 in assets during financial settlement proceedings with his ex-wife between 2014 and 2016. The funds, which included undrawn profits and proceeds from the sale of part of his partnership interest, were held in a dormant client account under the name of a relative, Person A, rather than being declared in official court documents.
The tribunal heard that Becker completed and submitted Form E and Form D81 without including the funds held on his behalf by the firm. These omissions occurred despite repeated requests for full disclosure from the opposing party.
Becker had knowingly failed to disclose significant assets in both Form E and Form D81. It found that his actions were deliberate and motivated by a desire to prevent his ex-wife from accessing what he considered to be non-matrimonial assets. The panel determined that this conduct breached Principles 1 (upholding the rule of law), 2 (acting with integrity), and 6 (maintaining public trust), as well as Outcomes 5.1, 5.6, and 11.1 of the SRA Code.
Becker was also found to have caused or allowed personal funds to be paid out of the firm’s client account without a legitimate underlying transaction, in breach of Rule 14.5 of the SRA Accounts Rules. Although the tribunal did not find sufficient evidence that he had caused the funds to be paid into the account, it held that his direction to transfer the funds to his personal account constituted a serious breach of professional standards.
The tribunal rejected his defence that he believed the funds were not matrimonial assets due to the firm’s debts and that he had acted honestly based on his understanding of the situation. It found that his conduct was dishonest by the standards of ordinary decent people and that he had taken unfair advantage of his ex-wife.
In its judgment the SDT ordered that Becker be struck off the Roll of Solicitors. The panel emphasised that his actions were “deliberate, calculated and repeated,” and that dishonesty of this nature fundamentally undermines public trust in the legal profession.
While acknowledging Becker’s previous good character and cooperation with the investigation, the tribunal concluded that no lesser sanction would be appropriate. Becker contended the costs figure submitted by the SRA (£51,830.48) was ‘excessive’ and was ordered to pay reduced costs of £23,655.68.
