August 2004

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Date posted on UnjustIS

First black High Court judge

Linda Dobbs, QC, will be sworn in to her post at the end of September this year. Described by a colleague as "focused, practical and down-to-earth", Ms Dobbs will assume her new post after recently stepping down from chairing the Criminal Bar Association. (About time, too. UJ)

Lawyers face curbs over 'profits before ethics'

New rules for solicitors as client charges spiral to £9bn

Lawyers warned over profiteering

LAWYERS were today facing a crackdown on client charges to counter fears of profiteering. The Law Society is drawing up a new code of conduct for solicitors after figures showing record profits for top firms.

Struck off for dodgy claims

A PRESTWICH solicitor has been suspended for six months and his former partner struck off following a disciplinary tribunal held over allegations their firm had been at the centre of a £750,000 legal aid scam. Declan Adams, aged 43, of Leach Mews,...

OFT issues codes of practice governing new powers of investigation

The OFT today published two codes of practice setting out how it will exercise some of its additional powers for investigating cartels.

Citigroup faces $2.5bn fraud suit for Enron financing role

CITIGROUP, the world’s biggest financial services company, faces a $2.5 billion (£1.4 billion) lawsuit from investors who claim they were victims of a “massive scheme of deception” when they invested in securities linked to Enron, the collapsed energy trader.

Post office owner stole for thrills

A BUSINESSMAN stole almost £50,000 for the thrill and then kept the cash in his attic - a court heard. Shailesh Patel, 48, of The Paddocks, Penarth, was jailed for fiddling benefit claims meant for the customers at his post office in Grangetown, Cardiff.

Fraud lawyer jailed for 6 years

A Perth lawyer who defrauded finance companies of more than $13 million has been jailed for six years. Rohan George Skea received the six-year sentence after District Court chief judge Antoinette Kennedy said he had cooperated fully with police.

Bosses fear employee fraud

Fraud is now considered to be as big a threat as burglary, however many employers are failing to take the most basic precautions. Research carried out by financial advisers MacIntyre Hudson, shows that 38 per cent of employers questioned pointed to fraud as the single biggest threat to their business.

Ulster woman indicted for fraud in US

An Ulster woman in jail in Texas today rejected allegations that she swindled hundreds of thousands of dollars from her wealthy friends by offering them non-existent plots of land in rural Ireland. Julia Parrish, originally from Castlederg, Co Tyrone, was indicted last week on a dozen fraud charges.

Lawyers offering GPs £175 a patient

DOCTORS are being offered a £175 bounty for every patient they successfully refer to a firm of personal injury lawyers, the Daily Post can reveal.

Civil servants caught surfing child porn

CIVIL servants in a government department have been caught downloading two million pages of porn from the internet. Among them, more than 18,000 images of child pornography have also been found, resulting in at least one criminal conviction. Two other members of staff are still under police investigation. Computers at the Department for Work and Pensions were regularly monitored after an employee was caught watching porn at work.

LAW FIRM ACCOUNTS BOSS JAILED FOR £60,000 THEFT

An Accounts manager for a city law firm who stole nearly £60,000 from his employers and spent it on cars and holidays has been jailed for two years. Andrew Erskine, aged 39, ripped off Redland-based Bevans solicitors by transferring funds belonging to the firm and its clients into his own bank account, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Breach of trust: lawyers struck off

Three NSW solicitors have been formally stripped of their licence to practise over trust fund irregularities worth almost $3 million. Stephen Gill misappropriated almost $1.9 million between 1994 and 2002 as he worked in the Newcastle region, while Kevin Minotti spent about $750,000 belonging to clients of his Bondi Junction practice. Another solicitor, Malcolm Hansen, lost his right to practise yesterday because a clerk at his Queanbeyan firm had misappropriated more than $310,000

Lawyer stole for lifestyle

A successful young lawyer stole more than $80,000 from a leading city law firm to fund an extravagant lifestyle that included a city apartment and party drugs. Donna-Marie Field was 25 years old and earning $90,000 a year as a senior associate at Blake Dawson Waldron when she was caught claiming reimbursements for false expenses.

FSA fines Shell £17,000,000 for market abuse

The FSA has today fined the Shell Transport and Trading Company ("STT"), Royal Dutch Petroleum Company ("RDP") and the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies ("Shell") £17 million for committing market abuse and breaching the listing rules.

Risk managers become popular choice for firms

Half of the UK’s top 20 firms have responded to growing threats of negligence claims by appointing full-time risk managers. (What about the other half? UJ)

We can't get on with our lives

CLIENTS who lost millions to a firm of financial advisers still have no idea how much they might get back, even though it has been six months since Oaktree Financial Services was closed by the Financial Services Authority.

SOHAM BILL IS £1/4M

Tax-payers have footed a £1.3-million legal aid bill for the Holly and Jessica murder trial. And a chunk of that cash has gone to Mr Foreman's firm, Roy Foreman and Co, based on New Street...The massive defence payout dwarfs compensation payouts made to each of the families of Huntley's 10-year-old victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Their parents will receive just £11,000 in criminal injuries compensation.

Britain's New Political Force: Angry Dads

LONDON (Reuters) - Andrei Peterson says his life collapsed in 2001 when his wife abducted his daughters. " ... Neither the police, or the government, or solicitors, or the courts, were at all interested in helping me find them," he told Reuters.

Indemnity deadline pushes claim-cutting up the agenda

Insurers and brokers are gearing up for the busy month before 1 October, the deadline by which all law firms in England and Wales must renew their professional indemnity insurance for 2004-2005.
In the meantime, firms are working to find ways to reduce rates, and their exposure to potential claims.

In safe hands?

When David Galpin's father died his family entrusted the management of his estate to a private company offering will and probate services. When the company went into liquidation, David and his family were shocked to find there was no automatic safety net to ensure they got their money back.

Lawyer faces immigration charges

A London solicitor has been charged with immigration offences. Christopher Christodoulides, 37, from Winchmore Hill, was charged on Tuesday with "conspiracy to facilitate illegal entry" to the UK, police said.

Make it harder to sue, say Tories

People seeking compensation would find it harder to sue hospitals, councils and other public bodies under plans put forward by the Tories yesterday.

Solicitor jailed for plundering

A SOLICITOR from near Solihull who plundered more than £400,000 from clients' accounts was jailed for four-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court last Thursday. Michael Lee, 63, of Pund Field, Wootton Wawen, took the cash...

FSA shuts Collins Stewart case file

The Financial Services Authority has dropped its year-long investigation into Collins Stewart Tullett, the City firm run by combative chief executive Terry Smith.

Lloyds TSB in data protection battle over offshore outsourcing

UK bank Lloyds TSB has been threatened with legal action by its staff union over the transfer of call centre jobs to outsourced processing centres in India on grounds that the move breaches the Data Protection Act.

Fake barrister spotted in bay

A bogus barrister, who police believe has swindled people out of thousands of pounds, has been spotted in Torbay.

'Easy money' arrests

Update on KF Concept and Kevin Foster

Parmalat's Bondi Emerges as Debt Market's Spitzer: Matthew Lynn

Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- There are few obvious points of comparison between Parmalat Finanziaria SpA Chairman Enrico Bondi and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

BRIEFS ENCOUNTERS Lawyers banned in £144M legal aid probe

TWO lawyers were banned from every court in Scotland and several others are under investigation in a multi-million pound legal aid probe. The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) slapped a four-week ban on freelancer Iain McPeake.

Four years for thieving lawyer

A former solicitor who plundered more than £400,000 from clients' accounts was jailed for four-and-a-half years yesterday. Michael Lee (63), of Pund Field, Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire, took the cash over a period of two to three years while principal of Michael Lee & Co, based in Coventry Road, Small Heath, Birmingham.

UK's FBI-style agency chief named

The head of Britain's new FBI-style organised crime-busting agency has been named as Bill Hughes - the current boss of the National Crime Squad.

Money laundering: A policy bordering on the sensible at last

'An informal consultation' is the inclusive, touchy-feely spin the Home Office has put on its latest attempt to solicit views on the proceeds of crime bill and money laundering regulations.

'Incompetent' solicitor suspended over errors

AN INCOMPETENT solicitor who made a series of blunders involving clients' money has been suspended from the profession indefinitely. Simon Cannon, 44, ended up closing down his firm after encountering severe financial and personal problems.

Fathers' rights group in election pledge

CAMPAIGN group Fathers 4 Justice (F4J) has announced plans to stand in the next general election and believes it could even take a number of marginal seats from the Labour Government.

Boca investors sue KPMG over late-90s dot com scheme

Counsel says “pigs at the trough” cheated web hosting company out of millions

SAS appoints Tony Thomas principle fraud consultant

New Labour is creating a whole new class of victim

"Legislative incontinence is excluding those at the sharp end of the law", writes Martin Kettle for The Guardian. What is clear, however, is that ever fewer of the people who need it most are now in the position to get the advice and representation they need to make a reality of their nominal rights.

The Guardian

10 Aug

High in the society

The Clementi review could mean it’s all change for the Law Society – but new president Edward Nally is prepared for the challenge.

Asylum legal aid bill hits £1m

SCOTLAND’S legal aid bill for immigration appeals has tripled in one year to almost £1m, prompting suggestions from the government that some lawyers are riding the asylum gravy train.

Compensation claims "are disrupting UK business"

An increase in the growing compensation culture is hitting UK businesses, costing them time and money, suggests research.

Death threats before crash

A LAWYER for a Russian oil giant who died in a mystery helicopter crash had told friends he had received death threats, The Western Mail can reveal. It is believed Stephen Curtis, a former Welsh university student, had been targeted by the Russian secret service shortly before his death earlier this year.

IC Wales

07 Aug

Police arrest 20 in fraud operation

Detectives arrested 20 people in Birmingham yesterday as part of a £2 million nationwide money laundering and fraud investigation, writes Campbell Docherty.

IC Birmingham

07 Aug

Debtors circle law man's home

A DISGRACED solicitor's home is finally set to go on the market to pay back money he owes to former clients.

Belfast Telegraph

03 Aug

FSA extends insurance control

Solicitors offering insurance products to clients that are stand-alone and not incidental to other services will require authorisation from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) later this year, or early next year, as part of the ongoing changes under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

Law Society Gazette

03 Aug

That's rich

A Midland law firm has received nearly TWO MILLION POUNDS in taxpayers' money - to help gypsies stay on at illegal campsites. The staggering amount of legal aid was given to the Birmingham-based Community Law Partnership (CLP).

IC Birmingham

03 Aug

Lawyers attack independent regulation plan

SCOTLAND’S advocates have condemned plans to set up an independent body to regulate the legal profession. The government is looking at stripping the Law Society of its power to investigate lawyers amid growing concerns about the way it handles complaints. "Many lawyers just do what they like and get away with it - it’s a scandal."

The Scotsman

01 Aug