A barrister has been disbarred after a disciplinary tribunal found that she secretly recorded family court proceedings, breached client confidentiality, sent an unqualified person to an advocates’ meeting in her place and harassed a former employee over confidential mental health issues.
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Mariam Adel El-Sobky, who was called to the Bar in 2001, appeared before a disciplinary tribunal for the second time in five years over a series of allegations relating to her professional conduct.
Although the full tribunal decision has not yet been published, the Bar Standards Board said El-Sobky faced multiple allegations, with the tribunal imposing a combination of suspensions and disbarment. The findings remain subject to appeal.
One of the most serious findings concerned recordings of family court proceedings.
The tribunal found that on at least three occasions in 2021, El-Sobky made audio recordings of hearings in family proceedings without obtaining the consent of the parties or the judge.
She subsequently sent the recordings to employees for transcription.
The BSB said the conduct amounted to a failure to observe her professional duty to the court and the administration of justice.
A separate allegation arose from care proceedings in July 2021, where El-Sobky was representing a mother ahead of a five-day final hearing.
She was due to attend an advocates’ meeting before the hearing but instead sent another person whom she knew was not qualified to participate on her behalf.
As a result, the other advocates were unable to properly receive her client’s position or discuss the relevant issues, forcing the meeting to be rescheduled to the morning the trial was due to begin.
The tribunal also found that El-Sobky failed to maintain the confidentiality of a client’s affairs.
She sent Child Maintenance Service appeal papers to the personal email address of a person she had employed to assist with the case without first requiring that individual to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Another aspect of the disciplinary case concerned her treatment of a former employee.
The tribunal found that in December 2021, El-Sobky sent messages to a WhatsApp group which referred to, and sought to make fun of, confidential information concerning the former employee’s mental health.
In one of the messages, she described the former employee as “a very sick young lady”.
She further wrote: “Best place for you I think is a mental asylum. No access to internet or Wi-Fi and restraints lol.”
The comments had previously been considered by an employment tribunal in 2023, which found that they amounted to harassment under Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010.
The barrister’s professional regulator subsequently relied on the conduct as part of the disciplinary proceedings against her.
Commenting on the tribunal’s decision, a Bar Standards Board spokesperson said El-Sobky had failed in her duty to the court and that her conduct fell substantially below the standard expected of barristers.
“Ms El-Sobky failed to observe her duty to the court in the administration of justice. This behaviour falls far below the standards the public rightly expect of barristers,” the BSB said.
“The decision to disbar reflects the seriousness of the misconduct in this case.”
The latest disciplinary proceedings were not El-Sobky’s first before a professional tribunal.
In 2021, she was reprimanded, fined £2,000 and ordered to shadow an experienced family law practitioner for six months after another disciplinary tribunal found that she had spoken to an opposing lay client while the person’s lawyer was absent.
At the time, the tribunal was told that El-Sobky had moved from criminal practice into family law and “was simply not on top” of the applicable professional rules.
The latest case, however, involved a broader range of misconduct findings touching on court procedure, confidentiality, competence and the treatment of an employee.
While the tribunal imposed disbarment alongside other sanctions, the decision is not yet final because El-Sobky retains the right to appeal the findings.
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