Kirit Chhagan Pankhania

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

The Respondent, a sole practitioner, acted for a client in a dispute over property proceeds. The Tribunal found he had dishonestly altered a letter from the opposing firm (changing the £30,000 costs settlement figure to £20,000 and deleting reference to two £15,000 tranches) and sent the false version to the client and the Legal Complaints Service. He also signed a Land Registry Form RX3 without his client's authority and concealed this, failed to follow instructions, failed to act in the client's best interests, failed to provide a good standard of service, and failed to give proper costs information. The Tribunal applied the Twinsectra test and expressly found dishonesty, rejecting the Respondent's medical/administrative-error explanations. He was struck off the Roll and ordered to pay agreed costs of £17,000.

Duties found breached:

• Avoid wasting the court's time
• Honesty
• Not mislead third parties or opponents
• Act in the client's best interests
• No conflict between current clients
• Competence
• Good faith and courtesy to colleagues

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate alteration of another firm's letter (changing £30,000 to £20,000 and deleting reference to two tranches)
• Deception of both the client and the Legal Complaints Service
• Signed Form RX3 without authority and concealed this from client

Mitigating factors:

• 22 years of unblemished practice
• No previous disciplinary matters
• Numerous character references
• Health problems and flooding of offices raised
• Achieved a favourable capital settlement (£60,000) for client