A commercial property solicitor who signed to say he witnessed a signature – having never even met the person in question – has agreed to be struck off.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard that Jack Medlicott, a partner with Liverpool firm MSB Solicitors, had initially refused a request in April 2022 from a landlord client to sign two leases to confirm he had witnessed the tenant’s signature.
But the client assured him this tenant was a friend and asked Medlicott if he could do him a ‘favour’ and sign the leases. The solicitor agreed and did so, signing and printing his name on both documents and putting his office address and his occupation as a solicitor.
Medlicott asked the client to get the leases signed as soon as possible by the tenant and return them, but they were never sent to him.
In August 2022, the client phoned Medlicott to tell him he had been arrested (the client would subsequently be charged with offences relating to drugs and firearms and was convicted and jailed for 16 years). Police officers attended the MSB offices to speak with Medlicott and showed him copies of the signed leases. He initially told the police he had not signed them, then apologised and admitted he had in fact been present when they were signed.
Both the police and the firm immediately reported the matter to the Solicitors Regulation Authority and Medlicott was subsequently issued with a final written warning from his employers.
The tribunal heard that Medlicott knew he had been acting dishonestly. This applied even if he had believed the client would not hold out the leases as having been validly executed, and believed they would be signed at some point.
Medlicott, admitted in 2014, agreed with the SRA that he should be struck off and should pay £15,000 costs.
The tribunal agreed to this outcome, adding: ‘He had direct control over his conduct which he knew was in material breach of his professional obligations.’
