A law firm owner committed serious misconduct by sharing “antisemitic, offensive and inappropriate” tweets.
Jonathan Lea, who owns Jonathan Lea Network in Haywards Heath, was reported to the Solicitors Regulation Authority in October 2022.
The matter, relating to 13 tweets shared between 2015 and 2023, was then referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in April 2025.
Jonathan Lucarotti, representative for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, told a tribunal hearing on April 28 that the tweets contained subject matter “which is considered to be antisemitic, offensive and inappropriate”.
Mr Lea said he “greatly regrets what happened” and that there is “a very low risk” of it happening again.
The contents of the tweets were not disclosed during the hearing.
Mr Lucarotti told the panel Mr Lea “encouraged the commission of an act of criminal damage” in one post, which The Argus understands related to a Ulez camera.
The solicitor said it was a “retweet” with “no thinking through of the implications of what [he] was sharing and saying”.
“At the time there was a climate of very strong public opinion against these Ulez cameras,” Mr Lea said.
“Legislators were saying similar things.
“I admit it’s something I should never have said and won’t do it again.”
Mr Lea added that he “has got a long history as a solicitor without any regulatory issues”.
He said one person at his firm “has already handed in their notice relating to this”, while others are “really supportive” of him.
Mr Lea said: “I fully accept and now understand and regret what went wrong and I am fully committed to ensuring nothing like that happens again.
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“I fully accept that my conduct fell below the standard required.
“I have deleted all the tweets. I do not use an X account now.
“I have come to the conclusion it’s not appropriate.
“I greatly regret what happened. It’s a hard lesson well learnt.
“My motivation is as it has been since the start, to put this behind me but make sure it’s a lesson well learnt.
“I said things in the heat of the moment. Things I thought were of important public interest but came out in a way that had harm.”
The panel found Mr Lea committed serious misconduct and he was given a one-year suspension, suspended for two years.
This means if he commits further misconduct in the next two years, he will be suspended for a year.
He was also ordered to pay £25,000 in costs to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.