Court of Appeal: Solicitor did not check appeal had been received
A solicitor who failed to check that a criminal client’s appeal had been lodged at the Court of Appeal has been rebuked after it turned out that it had not been.
As a result, the appeal was out of time.
Charles Westwood, who was dismissed by Irwin Mitchell, accepted the sanction in a regulatory settlement agreement with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
An SRA notice said Mr Westwood was instructed to submit an appeal against sentence, for which he had 28 days from the date of the sentencing hearing.
He prepared the appeal documentation in conjunction with counsel and believed that he submitted it by email.
“He confirmed that it was not unusual to have no further update or notification from the court for some time after filing the appeal,” the SRA said.
Mr Westwood did not then check receipt of the appeal with the court, nor his file or the firm’s case management system to verify that he had sent it by the deadline.
“Despite not carrying out these checks, he told several interested parties that he had submitted the appeal to the court. He later found out that because he had not submitted the appeal by the deadline, his client’s opportunity to appeal was out of time.”
Irwin Mitchell later dismissed him following a disciplinary investigation.
Mr Westwood admitted that he did not ensure that the service provided to the client was competent and delivered in a timely manner, failed to uphold public trust and confidence, and failed to act in the best interests of his client.
In mitigation, the solicitor said he cooperated fully with the SRA investigation and shown “insight and remorse” for his actions. Further, “his conduct was isolated to that client matter alone and he has not acted in that way before or since”.
The SRA said a rebuke was appropriate given that his behaviour was “reckless as Mr Westwood should have checked that such an important submission to the Court of Appeal had been received and that the updates he provided to interested parties was an accurate reflection of the status of the appeal”.
