A lawyer who lied about his cancer returning so he could take a week of holiday has been struck off.
Soham Panchamiya, who worked at law firm Reed Smith, had previously suffered from cancer and told his employer he needed a week off for chemotherapy after he claimed the illness returned in September 2023.
The lawyer faked a doctor’s note to provide false evidence, including claims he had a rare form of spinal cancer, and submitted it to the company’s HR department.
But it was spotted by HR managers because it included multiple inconsistencies, including spelling errors and differing font sizes.
Mr Panchamiya was confronted by his boss but continued to claim the document was authentic.
But his line manager spoke with his doctor who confirmed the report was false.
The doctor said he had assessed the lawyer once for a fitness report but there was no indication he had cancer.
He then admitted he had made a ‘big mistake’ and was suspended in November 2023.
Mr Panchamiya, who qualified as a solicitor in 2017 and joined Reed Smith in 2019, has been struck off and ordered to pay £22,000 following a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT).
In his defence, he said a number of ‘destabilising life events’ caused him to develop ‘unrecognised mental health issues, which manifested in impaired emotional regulation and impulsive choices’.
The SDT said: ‘Members of the public, notwithstanding their sympathy for his personal circumstances, would be extremely concerned that a solicitor had lied about a serious health condition in order to take leave from work, and thereafter had compounded that lie with further untrue statements, going so far as to fabricate medical evidence in support of that lie.’
Reed Smith, one of the world’s biggest corporate law firms, employs over 1,600 people including 350 in the City of London.
Partners earn £1.3million a year, while newly qualified solicitors start on £125,000.
