The Solicitors Regulation Authority has rebuked a solicitor who electronically transferred a client’s signature onto an amended statement.
Philip Lee Morris, formerly with defendant firm DAC Beachcroft Claims Ltd, admitted he had copied and pasted original signatures without giving his client an opportunity to approve the newly created documents.
An investigation by the firm found the unapproved versions had been filed and served within proceedings on several client matters. Morris initially told his firm he believed his actions were reasonable before accepting he had failed his professional obligations to clients and the court.
The original statement had been obtained from a client in 2014 for a motor insurance claim, when the client was represented by a different firm of solicitors. It was approved and signed by the client.
Morris was notified in 2019 of an error in the original statement. The copy provided within the trial bundle was also deemed to be illegible, and arrangements were made for the statement to be retyped to provide a clearer version and correct the error. It was this reproduction that contained the copied and pasted signatures.
Morris, a solicitor since 2008, reached a settlement agreement with the SRA that he would be publicly rebuked and pay £600 costs.
But he also put forward mitigation to say the misconduct was not intentional and he mistakenly believed it was acceptable to transfer a client’s signature in this way.
He had no previous history of failing to comply with regulatory obligations and provided positive character evidence about his previous conduct.
The SRA noted that while the conduct was reckless there was no lasting significant harm and a low risk of repetition.
