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Solicitors and other lawyers making the bad news from 2003 to date: News Roundup
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Date posted on UnjustIS |
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Law Soc in bid to approve pro bono initiative The Law
Society is moving to green-light law firm plans to plough expired client
funds into pro bono initiatives as it emerges magic circle giant Clifford
Chance (CC) has added its support to the move. |
30 Jun |
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Probe launched into "Crazy Frog" sales tactics The regulator that oversees premium-rate phone services is launching a probe into the wildly popular "Crazy Frog" mobile phone ringtone, after complaints that it dupes children into signing up for an expensive subscription plan. |
30 Jun |
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Fraudster Ordered to Pay £10 Million Compensation A former top businessman was today ordered to pay more than £10 million compensation following one of Britain’s biggest accountancy cons. Carl Cushnie, who was jailed for six years last year, was made the subject of a confiscation order at Southwark Crown Court in London. The money is to be paid to defrauded investors who are also still free to pursue civil actions for damages. Cushnie has until April 2007 to comply or face an additional three years in jail. |
30 Jun |
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ABA mounts fightback over erosion of attorney privilege US companies are holding back information from their lawyers, thanks to the erosion of legal privilege, according to new research from America’s umbrella bar. The American Bar Association (ABA) report, published on 15 June, claims that a tougher stance by US regulators is putting pressure on companies to disclose communications with their lawyers — leading clients to withhold information from their advisers. |
30 Jun |
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Miners' union faces class action over fraud claims Lawyers are preparing a case for the recovery of millions of pounds of compensation payments. A mining union that has earned millions of pounds in fees from miners’ compensation claims is facing a High Court battle over its actions. Update: Miners' Claims News 2004-2007 |
30 Jun |
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Judges' misdeeds will remain secret Judges who are disciplined for bad behaviour will not have the findings against them made public under a complaints regime to be launched next year. The decision to treat judges differently to doctors, barristers, solicitors and police officers was announced by the lord chancellor and the lord chief justice yesterday. |
30 Jun |
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Top Solicitor Fails in Divorce Settlement Bid A top solicitor today failed to win permission to challenge a divorce settlement which ordered him to hand over almost his entire assets of nearly £1 million to his former wife. |
30 Jun |
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Solicitor pleads guilty to theft A solicitor who stole nearly £350,000 from clients and the Inland Revenue has been jailed for four years for theft. Christopher McChrystal, 52, was caught when the Law Society carried out an inspection at his sole practice on De Montfort Street in Leicester. |
29 Jun |
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New Figures Show Rising Number of Women Solicitors Male solicitors under 40 are
outnumbered by women colleagues for the first time, new figures showed
today. The Law Society said there were 27,160 women solicitors with
practising certificates in the age group, compared with 25,627 men. Across
all ages, women now account for 41% of the profession. |
29 Jun |
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Website attacking lawyers under fire THE Scottish Court Service (SCS) has moved to shut a website dedicated to exposing corrupt Scottish lawyers. Cathy Jamieson, justice minister, said the site, operated by lobby group Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers (Sacl), was "potentially defamatory", and that SCS officials had contacted the website's internet service provider (ISP). |
29 Jun |
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The flying solicitors Boss of law firm which has made millions from compensation scheme buys private aircraft. THE senior partner in a law firm that makes millions from sick miners’ compensation claims has bought a £1.8 million private aircraft to take him to appointments. Update: Miners' Claims News 2004-2007 |
29 Jun |
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Solicitors who stand to make £100m move up in world THE senior partners in a firm of South Yorkshire solicitors have been paid almost £30 million for settling thousands of compensation claims on behalf of dead or sick miners. |
28 Jun |
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Law society clamps down on light-fingered EDMONTON -- More bad lawyers are stealing more money from their clients in a trend the Law Society of Alberta wants to combat by changing how lawyers handle trust funds. Cheated clients claimed more than $3 million from the law society's assurance fund in 2003 and $2.5 million in 2004. "Over the last few years, we have seen lawyer involvement in money laundering, a variety of mortgage-based frauds, Ponzi schemes and good old-fashioned theft," law society president Doug McGillivray wrote in the group's recent newsletter. "The trend is simply unacceptable." |
26 Jun |
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Solicitor Jailed for £825,000 Stamp Duty Scam A solicitor stole £825,000 by setting up a bogus account in the name of “I Revue” to cheat the taxman was today jailed for three years and nine months. Ian Macfarlane, 45, used an “almost farcical and childlike” scam to steal the money while working as a conveyancing solicitor over an eight-year period, Bournemouth Crown Court was told. |
24 Jun |
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Costs estimate fight reaches appeal court Law firms that fail to provide clients with estimates should be unable to recover their costs, the Court of Appeal will be told next month. In a case being heard on 13 July, solicitor-advocate Michael MacCallum of Harlow firm Whiskers, will argue that failure to adhere to Law Society rules in not providing an estimate means solicitors cannot recover costs from their clients. |
24 Jun |
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Financier jailed for cash swindle A Devon financier who used £2m of his clients' money to live a life of luxury has been jailed for six years. Nicholas Padden, 51, of Willow Cottage in Broadclyst, denied 11 charges of obtaining money by deception from eight clients between 1999 and 2003. Exeter Crown Court convicted him on all counts after hearing he lived in an country cottage, bought executive cars and went on expensive family holidays. Padden claimed the money had been lost on bungled investments. |
24 Jun |
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Legal Failures: The £65m fiasco Customs errors cause collapse of
Britain's costliest fraud case |
24 Jun |
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Jail for advisor who fleeced Cardiff couple A cash strapped
financial adviser who spent nearly £1 million of clients' money was jailed
for six years today. Nicholas Padden, 51, pleaded not guilty at Exeter Crown
Court to 11 charges of obtaining a money transfer by deception, but was
convicted by the jury after a trial lasting three and a half weeks. |
23 Jun |
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Escaped conman strikes The world's most daring conman
has struck again only 10 days after escaping from a British jail. |
23 Jun |
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Conman held victims under spell Conman Robert Hendy-Freegard was convicted at London's Blackfriars Crown Court on Thursday of two counts of kidnap, ten charges of theft and eight counts of deception. The toughest question for the prosecution in the case of Robert Hendy-Freegard was this: "How will we persuade a jury to believe it?" |
23 Jun |
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Women lawyers' role in spotlight A working party is needed to examine the role of women in Northern Ireland's legal profession, a report has said. The report, by a University of Ulster law lecturer, focused on women in judicial posts and senior barristers. |
21 Jun |
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UK scam victims to be compensated More than 25,000 UK-based victims of a pyramid investment scam could receive compensation after action by US authorities. The US Federal Trade Commission has set $20m (£11m) aside to compensate victims of Oklahoma-based firm Skybiz.
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21 Jun |
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Arab author tackles the last taboo - a Muslim woman writes a bestselling erotic epic It passed almost unnoticed when it was published in France last year, but L'amande or The Almond, a slim brown volume billed as the "first erotic account written by an Arab woman", has now sold rights in 17 countries, including Britain, where it is to be published next month. |
21 Jun |
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Mother faces music for girl's illegal downloads A teenager's penchant for the bands Coldplay and Oasis left her mother contemplating prison yesterday. Sylvia Price has received a demand for £4,000 in compensation by solicitors acting for the music industry after her daughter, Emily, was caught illegally downloading songs by her favourite artists. Mrs Price, a self-confessed computer illiterate, said: "I don't know where I'm going to get the money from. I'll have to go to prison because I haven't got that kind of money." |
21 Jun |
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Outrage at fresh attempts to curb jury trials The government expects up to 20 fraud trials a year to be heard by a judge alone as a result of abolishing trial by jury for complex cases. The estimate came from Lord Goldsmith, attorney-general, as he launched a renewed attempt to curb jury trials. His plans provoked an outraged reaction from the legal profession, civil liberties groups and political opponents. |
Financial Times | 21 Jun |
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Law Soc, Bar Council condemn plans to scrap juries in fraud trials Legal groups have this morning roundly condemned government proposals to scrap juries in fraud trials. The Law Society, Bar Council and the human rights organisation Justice have all criticised the government after the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, announced plans for judges to try serious fraud cases without a jury. |
21 Jun |
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Barrister critically hurt in teenage gang attack The wife of a barrister fighting for his life after being assaulted by a gang of youths today made a public appeal to trace his attackers. She said the attack on her husband after he strolled home from a barbecue in Poole, Dorset, had "completely devastated" the family. The family could not have a life again until they knew he was going to survive, she added. |
21 Jun |
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Litany of expensive fraud trials A number of lengthy, expensive fraud trials over the years have prompted the demands for them to be heard without a jury. |
21 Jun |
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Ministers to scrap fraud juries Judges would sit without a jury in serious and complex fraud trials under government plans to be voted on by MPs and peers later this year. Attorney General Lord Goldsmith suggested the measure would be used to handle between 15 and 20 cases in England and Wales each year. |
21 Jun |
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Internet Adoption Solicitor Struck Off A solicitor who sparked controversy by adopting twin girls through the internet today lost his High Court battle against being struck off for breaching strict financial rules. Alan Kilshaw’s wife, Judith, appeared in person before two senior judges to challenge the disciplinary ruling. She argued that, as Mr Kilshaw, 50, had not been accused of dishonesty, he should be subjected to a lesser penalty, such as suspension. |
20 Jun |
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Got an identity crisis? Join the queue Stealing someone's life is easy, warns Christopher Browne |
19 Jun |
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Watchdog to probe unresolved legal complaints SCOTLAND’s legal watchdog is demanding access to confidential files held by lawyers amid concerns that the profession is mishandling hundreds of complaints each year. Linda Costelloe Baker, the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman, is concerned that half of the complaints received by the Law Society of Scotland are either being abandoned or withdrawn. |
19 Jun |
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Moderniser swims into top judge's post A brainy moderniser who keeps fit by swimming outdoors all year round is to become the new top judge in England and Wales when Lord Woolf retires at the end of September. Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers will take over as lord chief justice for England and Wales from October 1. |
18 Jun |
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World's top conman walks out of prison The world's top conman, who was jailed less than three months ago, is on the run again after being allowed out of prison for a dental appointment. Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt, who modelled himself partly on Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the film Catch Me If You Can, was let out to attend the appointment but failed to return. |
17 Jun |
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Crackdown on offshore tax evasion Details of offshore credit cards are being studied as part of a crackdown on tax evasion, a law firm has said. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has told credit card companies to hand over account details, according to legal firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary. HMRC declined to comment on whether it had approached the card companies. |
17 Jun |
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Drug smuggling Customs man jailed A Customs officer has been jailed for 15 years for using his position to help smuggle millions of pounds of cocaine into Britain through Gatwick Airport. Richard Riley, 53, of Dulwich, south-east London, used £125,000 in pay-offs to fund a lavish lifestyle, Southwark Crown Court heard. He passed on confidential information, arranged drug runs from the Caribbean and ushered couriers through Customs. Riley admitted conspiracy to smuggle drugs and money laundering |
17 Jun |
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Firms warned of ‘holding out’ risk Partners: small firms told to be careful when holding out people as partners following a recent High Court ruling. Smaller law firms need to be careful about holding out people as partners, a leading partnership expert warned this week in the wake of a recent High Court ruling. The unreported decision highlighted by Richard Linsell, a partner at Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, was on a preliminary issue as to whether the second defendant in the case (B) was liable in negligence proceedings on the basis that he was either a partner in the defendant firm of solicitors or that he was held out as such. |
17 Jun |
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Fraudster turned our lives into living hell A COUPLE have spoken out for the first time about the Wilmslow conman who made their lives a “living hell” for four years. Anton Grashion, 58 and his wife Christine, 54, are now starting a new life in Tenerife after convicted fraudster John Thorpe, of Hawthorne Avenue, conned his way into their business and stole it from them. |
17 Jun |
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How a few ketchup splashes, a £4 bill and an e-mail have become the talk of the City A CITY lawyer who made an office secretary pay £4 towards a dry-cleaning bill after she accidentally spilt ketchup on his trousers was paying dearly for his actions last night. Richard Phillips, a senior associate with Baker & McKenzie, the world’s fifth- biggest law firm, sent an e-mail to Jenny Amner, a secretary at the firm’s London office. (Update: The Scotsman 21 Jun) |
17 Jun |
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City Law Soc president in Law Society alliance call The chairman of the City of London Law Society (CLLS) has signalled a major increase in the body’s profile by calling on it to come to the aid of a Law Society inherently weakened by the Clementi reforms. David McIntosh warned a conference last week that Sir David Clementi’s call for Chancery Lane’s regulatory and representative arms to be split risked neutering its representative arm — unless it forms "allegiances" with bodies such as the CLLS. |
16 Jun |
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Equity in law A looming shake-up of legal regulation is prompting British law firms to rethink their business models. A recent survey shows two-thirds of the top 100 firms plan to admit non-lawyers as partners, one in five intends to seek outside investors and one in 10 aims to list on the stock market. Such innovative thinking is welcome. |
16 Jun |
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Legal aid plan for accused to pay unless found innocent HIGH earners accused of serious crimes would be forced to pay a proportion of their legal aid bill under plans aimed at tackling delays in Scotland's courts |
16 Jun |
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Ex-trader jailed over scandal THE former head of National
Australia Bank's foreign currency options desk has been jailed over his
involvement in the bank's $360 million trading scandal. Luke Edward Duffy,
35, who pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to three charges of
dishonesty, will have to serve at least 16 months' jail. |
15 Jun |
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Solicitor milked people's wills A Devon solicitor faces
jail after he was found guilty of stealing more than £250,000 from clients.
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15 Jun |
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Law Soc restructures for Clementi reforms The Law Society has appointed chairs for its two new boards, in preparation for the implementation of Sir David Clementi’s recommendations for the reform of legal regulation. Former Law Society president Peter Williamson becomes chair of the Regulation Board, which will oversee the policy and operations of the society’s regulatory function. Shamit Saggar, professor of political science at Sussex University, will be the Consumer Complaints Board chair. |
15 Jun |
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Lawyer quits following Pope joke High-profile lawyer Donald Findlay has resigned from a prestigious legal position following a row over a joke he made about the death of the Pope. The QC stepped down as chairman of Faculty Services Limited, a private company that looks after the business affairs of advocates. |
15 Jun |
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US climate change assessments 'misrepresented' A FORMER senior administration official has accused the White House of subverting its Climate Change Science Program to serve political goals. Rick Piltz, who helped coordinate the $2 billion research effort, said programme assessments were being "misrepresented and misused". In a memo sent to government scientists and officials on 1 June, Piltz singled out Philip Cooney, a lawyer and chief of staff at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and chief climate negotiator Harlan Watson. (Gratifying to see the New Scientist making the news trawl at last. UJ) |
15 Jun |
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Solicitor suspended A SOLICITOR wept as a tribunal was told how he lied to clients and bosses in Sheffield because he couldn't cope with work pressures. Peter Meldrum incorrectly told clients their cases had been settled, and paid one customer £4,500 of his own money to conceal his deceit. A Solicitors' Disciplinary Tribunal heard how the 37-year-old had been looking forward to a promising career in employment law with Irwin Mitchell based at St Peter's House, Hartshead, in the city centre. |
15 Jun |
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Microsoft warns of critical flaws Windows users are being urged to download the latest security updates from Microsoft to fix critical flaws. The software giant has warned that three loopholes affecting Windows and Internet Explorer allow an attacker take control of a personal computer. |
15 Jun |
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Ulster clearing way for more women to join judiciary Barriers to women joining Northern Ireland's judiciary will be identified and removed by a new independent appointments body, a top judge pledged today. |
15 Jun |
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Lawyers earning £1m on the increase More of the City's top corporate lawyers broke into the £1m earnings bracket in the last financial year, but boosting their profits has not come easily. As the biggest firms finalise their results for 2004-05, the so-called magic circle have all pushed up their profitability. Yet most have had to do it in the face of largely static, or even shrinking, revenues. |
15 Jun |
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JP Morgan to pay Enron backers INVESTMENT bank JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay $2.2bn (£1.2bn) to investors of collapsed energy firm Enron. |
15Jun |
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Lawyers: `don't be afraid of the law' SOLICITORS have nothing to fear from changes to the profession despite the pace at which they are taking place, the Law Society's chief executive said during a visit to Manchester. Janet Paraskeva urged lawyers to seize the opportunities provided by the changes, instead of viewing them as a threat. (Let's not rock the boat, eh? UJ) |
15 Jun |
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CONSUMER rights magazine Which? is calling on people who have been stung by the Scottish legal system to tell them their tales of woe. Which? is concerned the consultation - on proposals to shake up the profession - will hear views from lawyers but not consumers. Which? spokeswoman Julia Clarke said: "We want people who feel they have been badly treated by the legal system to write to us. We will pass their grievances to the Executive." Write to: Which? at the Executive Centre, 7/9 North St David Street, Edinburgh EH2 1AW. |
14 Jun |
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Pair guilty of £2m pension fraud A businessman and his lawyer have been convicted over a fraud which raided £2m from a Scottish company's pension fund. Danish entrepreneur Bjorn Stiedl, 44, who was living in Surrey, was convicted last year of conspiracy to defraud. Lawyer Carsten Iversen has now been convicted at Southwark Crown Court of taking part in the conspiracy. They will be sentenced later. |
13 Jun |
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Oil boss' death was 'pilot error' A helicopter crash which killed the boss of a Russian oil firm was an accident caused by pilot error, an investigation has concluded. Stephen Curtis, 45, was killed in March 2004 together with pilot Matthew Radford when the aircraft crashed on arrival at Bournemouth Airport. |
10 Jun |
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Chancery Lane set for post-Clementi review of top brass The future of the Law Society’s senior management has been thrown into doubt, it has emerged, in the wake of last month’s vote to separate its regulatory and representative arms from September. |
09 Jun |
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Concern over lawyer complaints WHICH?, the consumer group, yesterday urged the Scottish Executive to widen consultation on controversial proposals for reforming the handling of complaints about Scotland's 10,000 lawyers. |
08 Jun |
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Society decrees all firms to hear own complaints SINCE November 2002, when the Scottish Parliament's Justice 1 committee recommended the legal profession improve its handling of complaints, reform has been high on the agenda. The Law Society of Scotland has made a number of changes, including increasing lay membership on complaints committees to 50 per cent and recommending that all firms appoint a client relations partner to deal with complaints. |
07 Jun |
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Asylum-Seeking Fraud Boss Jailed The leader of a gang of Algerian asylum seekers who cheated stores of up to £1.5 million was jailed for five years today. Ali Khelifi, 34, was led to the cells of the Old Bailey protesting his innocence and claiming police had made his life “hell”. He was the last of the 10-man gang to be sentenced in a conspiracy which Judge Simon Smith said was an abuse of the asylum system. |
07 Jun |
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Judge-Only Fraud Trials Announcement 'Soon' The Attorney General will make an announcement “very soon” about the introduction of judge-only trials in complex fraud cases, the Government said today. Constitutional affairs minister Bridget Prentice was responding to concerns about the role of juries raised on both sides of the House at question time. |
07 Jun |
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Solicitor is barred for helping fraudster A SOLICITOR who served a three-year jail sentence for helping a fraudster steal £425,000 has been struck off by the Law Society. Susan Davies, 56, was sucked into an advance fee scam aimed at a Korean developer hoping to raise the money to provide a designer golf course at Eyehurst Farm, Kingswood. Davies allowed the mastermind of the fraud, Andreas Kitallides, to withdraw the money from her client account after falling for his flattery. But, while he avoided charges by fleeing to South Africa, Davies was forced to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud. |
07 Jun |
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Lawyers threaten strike over low pay Criminal barristers are demoralised over their earnings and could paralyse the criminal justice system by boycotting work on crown court trials listed to last up to two weeks, the government is warned today. |
06 Jun |
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Ex-law clerk charged with stealing £700,000 A former law clerk in a Belfast firm of solicitors has been charged with stealing over £700,000. |
04 Jun |
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Bigamous lawyer stole from client A bigamous solicitor has been jailed for six months for stealing thousands of pounds from a dead client's account to pay for her marriage. Marylena Shuti, 29, wrote cheques for £6,000 and £2,000 from the estate of Clifford Parkinson, and paid them into her account, Luton Crown Court heard. |
04 Jun |
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Thousands sought from con lawyer A former lawyer who
swindled clients out of almost £700,000 has been ordered to pay back
£100,000. |
04 Jun |
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Benefit cheat must repay £1.6m A FRAUDSTER who built up a multimillion-pound property empire with the proceeds of a complex housing benefit fraud has been ordered to repay a record £1.6 million to the state. Kanubhai Patel, 53, accumulated a portfolio of 15 properties in South London between 1992 and 2002, which is now worth nearly £4 million. |
01 Jun |
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Inquest hears of 'burnt-out' doctor's suicide A senior doctor killed himself by cutting his throat with a penknife after becoming "burnt-out" by his job, an inquest was told yesterday. |
01 Jun |
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Dishonest lawyer gets seven years A "DECEITFUL and dishonest" suburban solicitor who embezzled $4.3 million from friends, clients and investors has been jailed for a minimum three and a half years. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Murray Kellam also ordered Julie Anne Laird, 48, to repay clients more than $1.8 million, although he acknowledged she was effectively bankrupt and dependent on a disability pension. |
01 Jun |
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Lawyer to pay for pursuing oppressive defamation case A solicitor accused of wasting judicial resources by suing for defamation over remarks that were true was criticized Tuesday by the Court of Appeal, which took the rare step of granting indemnity costs to the libel-case defendant, which could result in damages being awarded against the lawyer. |
01 Jun |
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Lawyers want more $ if legal aid numbers increased Lawyers
are demanding an increase in legal aid rates if more people qualify for the
service. The Legal Services Amendment Bill is about to be considered by the
Justice and Electoral Select Committee. |
01 Jun |