Paul Andrew Smith

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

Paul Andrew Smith, a solicitor handling a personal injury claim (Claim 2) for Client A, located medical records showing the client had preferred a Caesarean birth, which was 'catastrophic' to the claim. Over several months (Sept-Dec 2022) he misled his client, the Court and defendants' solicitors by stating the relevant birth plan/medical records could not be located when they were in his possession. He drafted a false witness statement which Client A signed under a Statement of Truth, and sent misleading correspondence to the Court. He admitted all three allegations including dishonesty and lack of integrity. The Tribunal approved the agreed outcome, striking him off the Roll and ordering costs of £7,500.

Duties found breached:

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

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct sustained over a number of months
• Misled his client, other members of the profession and the Court
• 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
• Concealed medical records detrimental to client's case

Mitigating factors:

• Full admissions to all allegations including dishonesty
• Cooperation via agreed outcome
• Evidence of reduced means