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Solicitors and other lawyers making the bad news from 2003 to date: News Roundup
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Solicitor is guilty of misconduct A DITHERING solicitor who allowed a house to fall into ruin has been found guilty of professional misconduct. The Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal heard William Rennie, 53, of Kilmarnock, was asked to deal with the estate of a couple who died just weeks apart, without leaving wills. |
27 Apr |
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Misconduct solicitor struck off A Newton Stewart solicitor has been struck off after being found guilty of 15 counts of professional misconduct. Nicholas McCormick, 47, who traded out of offices at 28 Victoria Street, was found guilty by a Law Society discipline tribunal. It found that he had breached a catalogue of rules and ignored complaints made against him by clients. |
27Apr |
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Charles Russell CJD role garners mounting criticism
Lawyers claim firm may be open to investigation over role acting for trust |
27 Apr |
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DODGY NSW lawyers who cheat clients through an "outrageous" billing system that charges "like a taxi meter" will be fined for the first time. A crackdown on profiting through disbursements such as photocopying – often charged at up to $2 a page – also looks likely to form part of new consumer protection regulations. The Daily Telegraph can reveal the State Government is considering the size of penalties – with recommendations of up to 20 per cent of a lawyer's fees – to be imposed for breaches. |
Telegraph (Australia) |
27 Apr |
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New leads after Crimewatch appeal New leads, including a name, have been thrown up following a national television appeal for information on a knife attack on an accountant. Leslie Cumming, 62, was attacked by a masked man as he was about to enter his home in Edinburgh in January this year. |
26Apr |
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Investors' losses repaid HUNDREDS of investors burnt when a solicitors' mortgage scheme collapsed will get their money back after almost a decade in financial limbo. About 300 mostly elderly investors in the failed Piggot Wood and Baker solicitors' mortgage scheme will be repaid all the capital they invested. A Supreme Court judge ordered yesterday the investors be repaid the remaining $585,000 of their capital. The investors have been repaid gradually over the past two-and-a-half years through the Solicitors' Guarantee Fund, which is operated by the Solicitors' Trust. |
25 Apr |
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The art of sticking it to your client Perhaps the lawyer with a conscience is not a mere Hollywood myth. David Russell, the senior partner at Towells, a Wakefield firm, astonished many in the profession last week with the announcement that his firm was resigning from a group of solicitors fighting to win compensation for sick miners. |
25 Apr |
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Legal complaints move criticised A prominent expert on Scottish politics has criticised Scottish Executive proposals to reform how complaints against solicitors are handled. Professor David McCrone, of Edinburgh University, said the plans could prove a costly "hammer to crack a nut". He also said the Legal Profession and Legal Aid Bill was based on a "quick and dirty" consultation exercise. |
25 Apr |
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Poor suffering most as legal aid 'is scraped to the bone' say judges Hundreds of judges from the court of appeal downwards have accused the government of "emasculating" civil legal aid, threatening access to justice for the poor and vulnerable. They say ministers have allowed legal aid for criminal, family and asylum cases to swell unchecked, squeezing the funds for helping disadvantaged people with ordinary legal problems such as debt and housing. |
24 Apr |
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Clerk used client's cash A CROOKED solicitors clerk from Banbury paid off £4,000 of customers' debt with cash taken from other clients, a misconduct hearing was told. Elizabeth Gough pretended she had recovered the money owed to the clients in court judgements when in fact she had simply taken it from another account. In one case Gough paid out £1,886 and in another £2,000 was sent to trusting clients using others customer's money, the Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal heard. Bosses at Blake Lapthorn Linnell, in Westway, Oxford, put her on extended leave in January 2004 to investigate the cases when they discovered there was a problem. |
21 Apr |
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Clarke targets compensation as 'massive industry for lawyers' Charles Clarke underlined his personal contempt for the adversarial system of criminal justice in British courts when he revealed a series of controversial plans which have enraged miscarriage of justice campaigners. The home secretary made it clear that he wants to put a stop to a "massive industry for the legal profession that has been giving away large amounts of money to individuals who do not deserve it". |
21 Apr |
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Lottery cash for lawyers' gym trips LOTTERY cash is being used to fund gym membership for lawyers, the M.E.N. can reveal. A legal firm in Manchester has been awarded a £45,000 grant to send staff to an upmarket city centre health club to help boost their fitness. |
21 Apr |
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Call for inquiry into vCJD trust Families of the victims of the human form of mad cow disease are calling on the Department of Health to investigate the body set up to compensate them. So far the vCJD Trust, created in October 2001, has awarded £30m to families under the scheme. But BBC Two's Newsnight revealed it had spent £7m in legal costs and expenses..."But Newsnight revealed that Charles Russell solicitors - the law firm administering the scheme - is earning up to £5 in fees for every £1 paid out in discretionary payments for particular hardship." |
21 Apr |
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Prison drug dealing lawyer jailed A solicitor has been jailed for two years and eight months for supplying drugs to a prisoner in Barlinnie Jail. Angela Baillie, 32, from Newton Mearns, who worked for Lobjoie and Co, admitted supplying heroin and the tranquiliser diazepam to the inmate last October. At the High Court in Edinburgh, her defence lawyer said she had been coerced into supplying the drugs by a gangland figure. He said she was suffering from a psychiatric illness at the time. |
20 Apr |
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Law firms' contempt for solicitors who take miners' money A LAW firm has publicly resigned from the group of solicitors fighting to win compensation for sick miners in protest at the widespread practice of taking a slice from their damages in addition to claiming fees from the Government. Towells, which has represented thousands of miners without deducting a penny from their compensation, says that its resignation is an expression of its contempt for the conduct of fellow solicitors. |
20 Apr |
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The victims: same claim, different result JOHN NICHOL’S faith in solicitors has been shattered by the way that his hearing-loss compensation claim was handled. If he could compare notes with another former miner, Stephen Platko, his disillusionment would be all but complete. |
19 Apr |
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Gravy train keeps rolling for the firm paid £73m – so far SICK miners have been a goldmine to a South Yorkshire solicitors’ firm. Beresfords, based in Doncaster, has been paid £73 million by the Government for handling industrial disease claims by tens of thousands of colliery workers. This has helped Jim Beresford, the senior partner, and Doug Smith to become multimillionaires. Mr Beresford, 55, and his wife, Linda, 54, invested £1.8 million last year on a private jet and have spent heavily on improvements to their home in Linton, near Wetherby. |
See also: April 2007 and: Miners' Claims News |
19 Apr |
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Tale of two miners |
19 Apr |
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Thousands of ailing miners pay the price for lawyers' secret deal A law firm's deal with a mining union on settling hearing-loss claims has cost the men their damages while solicitors have made millions. THOUSANDS of miners whose hearing was damaged by years of heavy industrial work have been denied their full compensation because of the dubious conduct of the solicitors handling their claims. |
19 Apr |
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Left to die: the hidden victims of an NHS blunder In 1991 The Observer revealed the scandal of patients infected by HIV as a result of the contamination of Health Service blood. Now, beset by illness and poverty, they are launching a final battle for justice. Lorna Martin reports |
17 Apr |
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£120m cost of English justice at its worst Marcel Berlins Let me not mince words. The trial between Deloitte and the Bank of England showed English justice at its worst - profligate, out of control, insanely expensive, outrageously lengthy, and suffused with the kind of courtroom behaviour that we used to boast was absent from our system. The only positive aspect was that it reached the right conclusion. |
17 Apr |
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After 256 days in court, the judge's verdict: a hopeless, incoherent farce The case brought by the liquidators of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, claiming £850m damages from the Bank of England, was "a farce" which could have damaged the reputation of the British legal system, the judge who heard it said yesterday. |
13 Apr |
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A LEGAL watchdog has been criticised for failing to properly investigate solicitors who charged fees from miners' compensation payments. Legal Service Ombudsman Zahida Manzoor says the Law Society 'badly let down' complainants by failing to conduct full and comprehensive investigations into their cases. The ombudsman's inquiry was launched after Warsop MP John Mann wrote to Ms Manzoor –– and this week he hailed the findings as further proof that solicitors should repay such fees immediately if they want to avoid paying further compensation. |
12 Apr |
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Pc conman jailed for four years A former police officer has been jailed for four years after being found guilty of stealing almost £280,000 from an 89-year-old woman. John Morgan, 48, of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, lived lavishly on Joan Harpin's money while he was a constable with the Metropolitan Police. |
11 Apr |
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CLLS gets go-ahead to represent the City's elite Forty-three of London's biggest law firms have handed the City of London Law Society (CLLS) a mandate to be their representational and campaigning body. |
11 Apr |
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My society In January Sir Digby Jones claimed the Law Society's task as promoter of the entire legal profession was 'impossible'. Now the society's president Kevin Martin responds. By Matt Byrne In less that (sic) two weeks, the Law Society's consultation on its future, known as 'Have Your Say', draws to a close. By then some 20,000 solicitors are expected to have completed the 10-minute, online form and offered their views. |
11 Apr |
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All-change for Law Society THE president of the Law Society was in East Anglia last week to discuss forthcoming changes in the role and structure of the organisation. Kevin Martin visited Ipswich and Norwich to meet solicitors from the region as part of a consultation process on how the society should function when its regulatory and representative functions split next year. |
11 Apr |
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Legal complaints move 'is flawed' Proposals to create an independent legal complaints commission are flawed, a leading human rights expert has said. Lord Lester of Herne Hill said the Legal Profession and Legal Aid Bill was not compatible with human rights law. The Scottish Executive proposals, being considered at Holyrood, are aimed at increasing public confidence in the handling of complaints against lawyers. |
11 Apr |
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Law firm goes into liquidation A LAW firm with offices in Huddersfield, Halifax and Bradford has been placed in compulsory liquidation. William Hicks and Partners, with an office in Netheroyd Hill Road, Cowcliffe, shut in mysterious circumstances last month. But today it has been confirmed that Revenue and Customs officers have petitioned for the firm to be put into liquidation over unpaid accounts. |
11 Apr |
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At last, a bitter legal row that will run and run Marcel Berlins There hasn't been a really lively quarrel between legal institutions for a long time, so I'm delighted to be able to report that an excellent new row has arisen within the legal world. What's more, it's about something quite important - the handling of clients' complaints against their solicitors. |
10 Apr |
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Solicitors must own up to any crimes All new solicitors will soon have to submit to criminal records checks, the Law Society's newly-established Regulation Board has decided. Disclosure of convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the police national computer will be required by everyone seeking admission as a solicitor in England and Wales from September. |
10 Apr |
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Rise in calls to helpline from stressed lawyers A helpline for Scottish lawyers suffering from stress, depression and other work-related problems has experienced a 70% rise in calls over the last two years |
10 Apr |
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Retired solicitor gets jail time A retired Christchurch solicitor has been sentenced to four years jail for stealing close to $700,000 from an elderly client. Brian Joseph Fay, 70, was found guilty of seven charges relating to the theft of money from a man who had signed over power of attorney. Judge Phil Moran said the offending spanned six and a half years and Fay spent the money on travel, school fees, and gambling. He said it was a breach of trust at the highest level. Moran noted that Fay had repaid $200,000 and said it would be a barren exercise to make a reparation order for the half-a-million dollars outstanding. |
09 Apr |
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Tribunal upholds FSA case against solicitor The Financial Services and Markets Tribunal has upheld a Financial Services Authority (FSA) case against Allen Phillip Elliott after finding that he is not fit and proper to work in any part of the UK's regulated financial services industry. The Tribunal stated that Mr Elliott's history shows that "he is not able and willing to comply with requirements placed on him by professional rules and obligations" and that he was not open and honest in his dealings with regulators. The Tribunal found that Mr Elliott "poses a risk to the protection of consumers and a risk to the reputation of the market" and it concluded that a Prohibition Order was necessary "in order to protect consumers from risk and … to maintain market confidence." Mr Elliott is not authorised by the FSA, but he operates an unregulated mortgage investment scheme through his company FMD Trustees Plc. He obtains client referrals and introductions from authorised financial advisers who may be unaware of his history. (Follow link, right, for full text) |
05 Apr |
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Greedy lawyers sliced £9,000 from widow's compensation ALBERT LEADBEATER’S lungs were ruined by coal dust. The Yorkshire miner died in 1988, aged 65. Fifteen years later his widow, Gladys, received compensation from British Coal for the chronic respiratory disease that killed him. Although she was awarded damages of £51,616, she received only £42,625 because her solicitors deducted 15 per cent as a “success fee”. |
05 Apr |
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Law Society probe 'failed miners' The Law Society has failed to properly investigate miners' complaints against solicitors taking fees from their compensation, according to a report. Law firms made claims for Vibration White Finger or Obstructive Pulmonary Disease on behalf of miners from a government funded compensation scheme. |
BBC see also: |
05 Apr |
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Miners 'let down' by Law Society on payouts for sickness SICK miners who complained about solicitors taking a slice of money from their compensation awards were “badly let down” by the Law Society, the legal services ombudsman ruled yesterday. In a scathing attack on its handling of complaints by miners and their families, the ombudsman cited numerous failings by the society, which is the professional body for solicitors in England and Wales. |
04 Apr |
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Law Soc president claims Digby Jones is out of touch The president of the Law Society Kevin Martin has responded to criticism from the director general of the Confederation of British Industry Sir Digby Jones by branding the former Hammonds boss out of touch. Martin hit back at critics, who claim the Law Society is unable to meet the needs of the 21st century legal market, and in particular to comments made by Jones in an interview with... |
03 Apr |
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Complaints chaos could cost Law Society £1 million THE Law Society is facing an unprecedented fine of up to £1 million after a legal ombudsman delivered a swingeing attack yesterday over its handling of complaints from the public. The professional body for 100,000 solicitors in England and Wales is accused of being too quick to “rely on its budget and resources” to improve complaints handling, rather than looking at how it can be more efficient. (The Law Society is in my experience utterly uninterested in resolving complaints. UJ) |
03 Apr |
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Taps on the shoulder make way for job applications From this week, the Judicial Appointments Commission takes over the promotion of the judiciary ONCE it was done in smoke-filled rooms of gentlemen’s clubs or in the Temple corridors. Lawyers were appointed to be judges after the right word in the right ear; they were “tapped on the shoulder” and asked if they fancied promotion to the Bench. Whom you knew counted; as did your college or school. |
03 Apr |
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Law Society rapped for aiming low The body which polices solicitors' in England and Wales could be fined after its plan for handling complaints was thrown out for being 'inadequate' and letting down consumers.Last September, the Law Society was asked to put forward a plan on how it could improve its complaint-handling over 12 months starting from April this year. The move came after it emerged people were waiting three months before the Law Society even acknowledged it had received their complaint. |
03 Apr |
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'Let burglars off with caution', police told Burglars will be allowed to escape without punishment under new instructions sent to all police forces. Police have been told they can let them off the threat of a court appearance and instead allow them to go with a caution. The same leniency will be shown to criminals responsible for more than 60 other different offences, ranging from arson through vandalism to sex with underage girls. |
03 Apr |
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Legal chief charged over false identity A FORMER president of the Law Society has been charged by the police with creating a false identity and forging a passport to support a disciplinary investigation into his deputy. |
03 Apr |
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Thousands of second homes face bulldozer in Costa scam THOUSANDS of Britons who have bought houses in Marbella over the past decade face having their homes demolished after the exposure of a €1 billion property scam run by town planners. The mayor, councillors, developers, notaries, lawyers and businessmen are among 23 people arrested for their roles in the alleged racket headed by the chief of urban planning, Juan Antonio Roca. |
03 Apr |
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Executive drags feet over appointing new watchdog Scotland's legal services watchdog bowed out on Friday after six years in the role with a parting shot at the Scottish Executive's Justice Department. Linda Costelloe Baker is unhappy ministers have failed to ensure a smooth transition for her Edinburgh-based office by appointing a successor. |
03 Apr |
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Lord Chancellor gives up key role The Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, is giving up his post as the head of the judiciary as part of the government's constitutional reforms. The lord chancellor's role will now be taken over by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers. Lord Falconer will no longer combine the roles of the country's senior judge, a government minister and speaker of the House of Lords. The government attempted to get rid of the lord chancellor's post in 2003. |
03 Apr |
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Split-cap payouts under fire FINANCIAL advisers said that investors who lost hundreds of millions of pounds in split-capital investment trusts would be very disappointed by the level of compensation announced this week. And in a further twist, it emerged that nearly 15,000 of the 40,000 people who applied for redress will receive nothing at all. |
01 Apr |
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Lawyers urge clients to review wills More than a million people are being contacted by their lawyers and trust practitioners to review their wills following changes to the taxation of trusts announced in last month's Budget. A survey of members of the Society of Trusts and Estate Planners, the professional body for the trust and estate profession which includes leading law and accountancy practices, found that the vast majority of advisers are recommending their clients re-write their wills to avoid new punitive tax charges. |
01 Apr |
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New 'FBI-style' agency launched A national agency which will target major criminals such as drug-smugglers, people-traffickers and fraudsters comes into force on Saturday. The Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca), dubbed Britain's FBI, will unite experts from the police, customs and immigration services. |
01 Apr |
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Team that takes complaints in its stride In my job, you get a lot of complaints. Fortunately, the people who write long letters to me at The Daily Telegraph - or, worse still, ring me up when I am on deadline - are not usually objecting to anything I have done myself. They are usually complaining about their solicitors. |
31 Mar |
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Complaints over lawyers rise fivefold Consumer disquiet
over how Scotland's lawyers are regulated has reached an unprecedented
level. |
31 Mar |
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OK, the bathwater may need changing, but keep the baby (Is there a future for The Law Society) A COSTLY and irrelevant bureaucracy or a strong voice and defender of the solicitors’ profession? This Thursday the Law Society council kicks off debate on the future of the 150-year-old body that represents nearly 100,000 solicitors in England and Wales. |
28 Mar |