A lawyer has been struck off after it was discovered he faked a doctor's letter claiming he needed cancer treatment. The Solicitors Disciplinary Panel heard Soham Panchamiya, who had previously suffered from cancer, told his employers at the firm Reed Smith that a tumour had returned and he needed to take time off for treatment.
It was said the lawyer then falsified a letter from a doctor to support his lie and then submitted it to the HR department at the firm. However, a number of spelling mistakes and different font sizes used in the letter led to managers in the HR department to flag the note as potentially suspicious.
When confronted about the document, Mr Panchamiya stuck to his claim that the letter was genuine.
The Telegraph reports when Mr Panchamiya's line manager later contacted the doctor named on the letter, the physician confirmed it was false. Mr Panchamiya then admitted that he had lied and was suspended from his job in November 2023.
Express.co.uk have contacted Reed Smith for comment.
An executive summary of the tribunal concerning the case said: "Mr Panchamiya admitted all the allegations, including that his conduct had been dishonest. It was submitted that exceptional circumstances applied such that striking
"Mr Panchamiya off the Roll would be a disproportionate sanction. The Tribunal determined that exceptional circumstances were not made out. Accordingly, the only appropriate and proportionate sanction was to strike Mr Panchamiya off the Roll."
In his defence it was submitted that Mr Panchamiya "was suffering from a health condition and challenging personal circumstances at the time of the misconduct" and that this case "was a case of 'one off' dishonest conduct in stressful circumstances".
However, the Tribunal determined that "the only appropriate and proportionate sanction was to strike Mr Panchamiya off the Roll of solicitors".
It added he would be struck off from the Roll of Solicitors and ordered to pay costs "of and incidental to this application and enquiry fixed in the sum of £22,000".
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