A solicitor who ran a document checking website has been struck off after he failed to look at the original documents.
Joe Morgan, a director of Document Certifier Ltd, had insisted that documents uploaded to the site counted as originals and so he was not in breach of any guidelines. But the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found ‘as a matter of common sense and logic’ that Morgan had seen only a version of the original document and so he had wrongly certified that these were true copies.
Morgan, admitted in 2019, had already been rebuked by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in 2022 for certifying documents as being a true copy of the originals when they had simply been uploaded to his website.
The tribunal ruled that Morgan was in breach of the agreement made with the SRA which resulted in that rebuke by continuing to offer certification services in the same way.
He was found to have failed to maintain public confidence in solicitors and failed to act with integrity. The tribunal said Morgan caused harm to his clients as they were provided with purportedly certified documents, but which in reality could not be relied upon.
Its ruling added: ‘The tribunal determined that Mr Morgan showed no remorse or understanding of the extent of the harm he had caused through the service he provided on the website. He steadfastly relied throughout his case on his own understanding of certification, which was incorrect…. if he was allowed to continue to practise as a solicitor, Mr Morgan would present a risk to his clients and the reputation of the profession.’
The tribunal heard that the first complaint about Morgan was made in 2021 by a member of the public who used Morgan's website to obtain a certified copy of a document and an apostille. She later discovered the documents which had been issued were invalid. Morgan made a regulatory settlement agreement with the SRA after admitting to providing notarial service and issuing apostille certificates without authority. He also admitted certifying documents as true copies of the originals without having seen the original document.
After 2022, the SRA saw further evidence that Morgan was continuing to operate the website and provide certification services.
He said he was permitted to do so and set out an eight-step process that he used to certify documents. This included the client uploading the original document, such as a bank statement, then Morgan checking its veracity with AI software. He then manually reviewed all the details and the document, then certified it as a true copy once he was satisfied everything was in order.
The SRA submitted that an AI check of the veracity of a document would not provide any confidence that Morgan was not handling a forged document. It was further said that the process risked that fake documents would be certified as the uploaded scan was not the original document.
The tribunal said the government guidance on certification was clear that Morgan could not certify documents without seeing original documents. Its ruling added: ‘Mr Morgan’s motivation for setting up the website and offering certification services was self-interest. His actions in doing so were calculated and deliberate. He was in a position of trust as a solicitor certifying documents for members of the public and he breached that trust with every certification.’
Morgan was struck off and ordered to pay £35,640 costs.
