Paul Geoffrey Dean Smith

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

The Respondent, a sole practitioner, signed a witness statement in the name of a client company director (Mr W) purporting to be him and submitted it to the High Court in support of an application to extend time to register a mortgage charge, which was granted. He initially denied forging the signature but self-reported the matter in 2012, some four years later, after his former firm received a complaint. The Tribunal found the allegation and dishonesty (applying the Twinsectra test) proved and admitted. No exceptional circumstances (per SRA v Sharma) were found to avoid strike off. The Respondent was struck off and ordered to pay costs of £1,500, reduced from the assessed £3,000 due to the Applicant's inordinate delay in prosecuting.

Duties found breached:

• No abuse of process or coercive powers
• No improper communication with the court
• Integrity
• Uphold public trust in the profession
• Act in the client's best interests

Aggravating factors:

• Dishonesty - the most serious misconduct
• Misleading the High Court
• Forging the signature of a client on a witness statement submitted to court

Mitigating factors:

• Voluntary self-report
• Full cooperation with the Applicant and Tribunal
• Admissions made
• Over 35 years on the Roll with previously unblemished record
• Single episode of brief duration
• No identifiable financial loss and no complaint from client or bank
• Insight and acceptance of seriousness