A BANKRUPT solicitor struck off after she borrowed £10,000 from a client and took a further £2,000 out of another client's account is to apply to have the case re-heard.

Jennifer Hallam of Crossmapontane Barn, Houghclough Lane, Chipping, did not attend the hearing at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in Central London on November 26 last year, when she was also ordered to pay costs of £1,880.

Mr Geoffrey Williams, acting on behalf of the Law Society, said that the offences were committed when Miss Hallam was working for the firm of Wharton Bramwells, Longton, Preston.

In 1999 she had borrowed £10,000 from a Mrs S -- a loan which was unsecured. At no time was the client advised to seek independent financial advice.

The unpaid loan came to light in 2000 when bankruptcy proceedings were taken out against her.

It was also discovered that £2,000, which should have been paid into the client account of a Mr T, had in fact ended up in a Woolwich Building Society account in Bexleyheath, Kent.

"It seemed an odd place for a solicitor to hold a client account. We can only presume that it was not," said Mr Williams.

None of the money had been recovered.

Mr Williams explained Miss Hallam had failed to reply to correspondence from the Law Society.

Before making the decision to strike her off, the tribunal heard Miss Hallam had appeared before them on an earlier occasion when she was found guilty of breaches of the Law Society's rules.