Paul Andrew Smith

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

Paul Andrew Smith, a solicitor at Rotheras with conduct of Client A's personal injury claim (Claim 2), located medical records showing Client A's preference had been an elective Caesarean section, which undermined the claim premised on an intended natural birth. Despite this, he (1) told Client A on 20 September 2022 that he did not have the relevant medical notes and failed to correct this; (2) drafted and filed a witness statement (signed 21 October 2022) for Client A containing untrue information about the availability of her medical records; and (3) on 31 December 2022 emailed the Court and defendants' solicitor falsely stating relevant records could not be located. He admitted all three allegations, including dishonesty and lack of integrity. The Tribunal, dealing with the matter on the papers via an Agreed Outcome, found dishonesty proved and ordered that he be struck off the Roll and pay £7,500 costs.

Duties found breached:

• Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct was dishonest, directed at his client, other members of the profession, and the Court
• Misconduct was sustained over a number of months
• Caused Client A to sign a Statement of Truth in a witness statement that was untrue, exposing her to risk of contempt of court proceedings

Mitigating factors:

• Respondent admitted all allegations in full, including dishonesty
• Cooperated via an Agreed Outcome
• Evidence of reduced means provided