Julie Condliffe

Introduction

Julie Condliffe, 48, is a solicitor who was admitted in 2012 and was struck off the roll by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) after it found that she abused her position and status to mislead a vulnerable group of nurses seeking to invest in property. Before the case, she had a public profile: she had spoken at conferences and on podcasts and had four books published, and she was well-known and influential in the Zimbabwean community through which the investors reached her. The tribunal found she falsely told members of a property syndicate that they were buying a residential property in the northeast, for which they paid a total of £31,000, and that no property was ever transferred.

Background Information

Condliffe combined her legal practice with property investment activity through PropertyPro World Limited (PPW), of which she was the sole director at the time of the conduct that led to her being struck off.

Her public standing was central to how the arrangement came about. She had spoken at conferences and on podcasts and had four books published, and she was well-known and influential within the Zimbabwean community. Three potential investors entered into arrangements with her in 2018, not knowing at the time that PPW owned the property they thought they were buying. One of the group later told the tribunal they thought she was representing them after having brokered the investment.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The findings described below are findings of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal — adjudicated regulatory findings made in disciplinary proceedings, not criminal convictions.

Per the Law Gazette’s report of the SDT decision, the tribunal found that Condliffe falsely told syndicate members that they were buying a residential property in the northeast for which they had paid a total of £31,000, and that no property was ever transferred. Subsequently, she misleadingly characterised the arrangement as a residential purchase lease option — and did so again to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and to the court when the investors brought a civil claim against her.

The Law Gazette reported that Condliffe emailed to say she would handle the matter herself as a specialist solicitor, and later sent messages suggesting the property was being transferred, including one text saying “The property will be yours from tomorrow”. The relationship broke down, and in 2021 the investors issued county court proceedings, which resulted in a settlement of £19,000.

At the tribunal, Condliffe denied knowingly misleading the investors, saying she genuinely believed the property was a lease option purchase and that this had been an honest misunderstanding. A key part of her defence was a first-option agreement purportedly sent to one of the investors in 2018, which mentioned a purchase lease. The SRA, prosecuting, pointed out that the PPW registered office shown on the document was not occupied until 2020. The tribunal said this discrepancy “gravely damaged Ms Condliffe’s credibility”.

The tribunal concluded that she “clearly exploited her professional status to promote the trust and credibility arising from being a qualified solicitor”. It added: “Ms Condliffe’s misconduct had a significant impact on the wider community and, in particular, on the Zimbabwean women she claimed to be empowering. She caused significant damage to the reputation of the legal profession. The harm she caused was clearly foreseeable.”

Public Reaction and Consequences

The SDT struck Condliffe off the roll and ordered her to pay £48,000 in costs. In its reasoning, as reported by the Law Gazette, the tribunal emphasised that the impact of her misconduct extended beyond the three investors, finding that it had a significant impact on the wider community and, in particular, on the Zimbabwean women she claimed to be empowering, and that she had caused significant damage to the reputation of the legal profession. The Law Gazette framed the case as that of a lawyer who abused her position and status to mislead a vulnerable group of investors, one whose outcome turned heavily on the tribunal’s assessment of her credibility.

Current Status

Condliffe has been struck off the roll of solicitors, and the Law Gazette reported the sanction and the £48,000 costs order on 10 August 2026. Separately, the SRA had in 2025 shut down Creative Legal Solutions, a London firm she later owned after the events in question, over a suspicion of dishonesty, as the Law Gazette reported.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Struck off means removal from the roll of solicitors, ending Condliffe’s ability to practise, and the costs order added a financial sanction of £48,000. Her firm Creative Legal Solutions had already been shut down by the SRA in 2025, meaning that by the time of the strike-off she had lost both her firm and her place on the roll.

The tribunal’s adverse credibility finding — the 2018/2020 discrepancy it said gravely damaged her credibility — undermined the core of her defence, and the civil claim brought by the investors had already resulted in a £19,000 settlement. The tribunal also found that the harm she caused was clearly foreseeable and that her misconduct had a significant impact on the Zimbabwean women she claimed to be empowering, in a case where her professional status and community standing had been central to how the investment was promoted.

Sources

• Law Gazette, “Solicitor who exploited fame and trust struck off over investment deal,” Aug 10, 2026 — source