Harejeet Kaur Judge

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

The Respondent, an assistant solicitor handling a matrimonial matter, fabricated a false Decree Absolute and gave it to her client Ms KG, telling her she was divorced when she was not. The Tribunal found allegations 1.1-1.4 proved (admitted) and found dishonesty (allegation 1.5) proved beyond reasonable doubt under both the objective and subjective limbs of Twinsectra. The Respondent admitted objective dishonesty but denied subjective dishonesty, relying on a PTSD diagnosis from Dr Lord. The Tribunal accepted she suffered PTSD but found this did not prevent her knowing she was forging a court document and that it was wrong. She chose not to give oral evidence, and the Tribunal drew an adverse inference. Despite mitigation, no exceptional circumstances existed to avoid the ultimate sanction. She was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay costs of £12,500, not to be enforced without leave of the Tribunal.

Duties found breached:

• Act in the client's best interests
• Honesty
• No taking unfair advantage
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Forgery of a court document which could have caused significant harm to the client and others
• Respondent did not reveal or confess her misconduct to the client or the firm; it was left to be discovered by Mr Chohan
• Conduct was not wholly spontaneous as it involved planning the meeting and creating a false document
• Repeatedly asked client about remarriage plans to determine likelihood of discovery

Mitigating factors:

• Misconduct was of brief duration / one-off episode
• Open and frank early admissions (other than as to dishonesty)
• Full co-operation with the Applicant
• Respondent was a junior solicitor at the material time
• Respondent suffering from PTSD at the material time (supported by medical evidence)
• Positive testimonials as to character
• Apologies and recognition of seriousness of misconduct