Matthew Moss

Introduction

Matthew Moss is a former employment solicitor who was struck off after it emerged that he had been earning more from a moonlighting side job than from the firm that employed him. Moss, who worked for Optimal Solicitors almost entirely remotely from his home in Cheshire, had been answering consumer queries for pay through the web platform JustAnswer, and the monthly payments he received frequently exceeded his take-home pay from his day job. When his employer confronted him about the arrangement, he lied, resigned, and was reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which ordered that he be struck off.

Background Information

Moss qualified into Optimal Solicitors in 2019 and practised there as an employment lawyer. According to the RollOnFriday report, he worked almost entirely remotely from his home in Cheshire. In 2024 he was made redundant and was working out his notice at the firm when the events that ended his career began to unfold. The record does not state details of his earlier career or personal life beyond what is described here.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

While Moss was working out his notice after being made redundant in 2024, he was called into a meeting with his line manager, Chris Germaine. In the process of winding down Moss’s caseload, Germaine found that Moss had been doing “limited work” for years, while several complaints had been made against him. Germaine also unearthed a “significant quantity” of emails Moss had forwarded to his personal email address, which included tables showing substantial monthly Paypal transfers to Moss from JustAnswer, a web platform on which paid professionals answer consumer queries. The payments from JustAnswer frequently exceeded Moss’s take-home pay from Optimal, amounting to around £81,000 between October 2022 and June 2024, compared with earnings of £45,000 from the firm over the same period.

Armed with suspicions that Moss was in breach of his obligation to work exclusively for Optimal, the firm suspended him. During a remote meeting to address the suspension, Germaine asked Moss whether he was undertaking work for anyone else. Moss lied that he was “not yet” doing so, and when Germaine asked whether he had worked for anyone else during the past four years while employed by Optimal, Moss said he had not. In fact, he had joined JustAnswer’s roster of paid experts in 2021. When Germaine revealed what he knew and asked who JustAnswer were and why they were paying more money to Moss each month than Optimal, Moss said it was a “platform to give legal advice” and claimed that his brother worked for the company but was using his bank account to get paid. Asked for the brother’s occupation, Moss replied that he was “not at liberty to say”.

Moss resigned after being rumbled, emailing the firm: “After the events of today, it has become clear to me that the foundational trust and mutual respect necessary for our relationship as employer and employee have been irreparably compromised.” Optimal subsequently reported him to the SRA.

Public Reaction and Consequences

When Optimal reported him to the SRA, Moss admitted that he had been lying. “When questioned about payments from JustAnswer, I panicked”, he said. “In a moment of severe anxiety, I falsely claimed that the payments were for work my brother had done, using my account. This was not true, and I deeply regret that I misled my employer in this way.” The SRA said that Moss accepted that “in light of the seriousness of the allegation against him – which includes an allegation of dishonesty” the proper penalty was to be struck off. He was also ordered to pay the SRA’s costs of £5,750.

The report attracted commentary on the RollOnFriday site, where readers debated the case. Several argued that the career-ending outcome flowed less from the moonlighting itself than from Moss’s decision to lie once he had been confronted, while others focused on the disparity between his JustAnswer income and his salary from the firm. One commenter noted that he had “admitted the misconduct and accepted the strike-off by way of an Agreed Outcome”.

Current Status

Moss has been struck off and was ordered to pay £5,750 in costs. The record does not state what he has done professionally since being struck off, whether he has sought to work in the law in any other capacity, or whether he has attempted to appeal the outcome.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The immediate consequence for Moss was the end of his career as a solicitor: he resigned from Optimal after being confronted, then admitted that the allegation against him included dishonesty and accepted a strike-off, along with a costs order of £5,750. The record does not describe any wider personal consequences for Moss beyond the loss of his professional status and the financial penalty.

Sources

• RollOnFriday, “Solicitor who lied to firm about lucrative side gig struck off”, August 28, 2026. source