An experienced solicitor who claimed not to fully grasp the rules on witnessing a signature has avoided being struck off despite a finding of dishonesty.
Victoria Burdett, who worked for Kent firm Robinson Allfree, had signed to verify her managing partner’s signature to a deed after the person who had witnessed it did not complete the details.
Burdett told the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal she was trying to be helpful given the urgency of getting the deed completed and submitted her actions were based on a ‘flawed understanding’ of the law regarding attestation. She accepted she made an error of judgement but believed she was acting properly rather than with dishonest intent.
The tribunal found it ‘difficult to accept’ that a solicitor with 22 years of private client experience was unaware of the legal formalities required for the valid execution of a deed. But the tribunal opted not to strike off Burdett on the basis of significant mitigation. Her counsel Susanna Heley argued that the act had been a spontaneous reaction which could not have been premeditated. Burdett had voluntarily admitted her mistake to her firm and never sought to deny it. Neither did she derive any personal or financial benefit from her actions – her sole motivation having been to complete the deed for the client’s benefit.
The tribunal said the misconduct was isolated and had never been repeated. It said the combination of its limited nature and scope and the strong mitigation meant that striking off would be disproportionate.
The ruling said: ‘Character references, including one from her employer who wished to retain her, supported the conclusion that the behaviour had been aberrational. The tribunal also accepted that she had been under considerable emotional and personal pressure at the time of the incident.’
Burdett was suspended for six months and ordered to pay £25,000 costs.
