The SDT ordered that the respondent should pay a fine of £2,000.
While in practice as a partner at Lawrence Stephens Solicitors, in relation to the litigation he was conducting on behalf of client A, the respondent had made misleading statements to the court in a witness statement and in doing so had breached principles 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the SRA Principles 2011.
The respondent’s misconduct had been the result of an inadvertent error and carelessness; there had been no planning; there had been no financial motivation, and there had been no breach of trust, though there had been a breach of duty to the court. It was a single episode of brief duration in an unblemished career.