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Solicitors and other lawyers making the bad news from 2003 to date: News Roundup
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Thousands burnt by ‘boiler room’ fraud A huge “boiler room” share fraud with as many as 10,000 suspected victims is being investigated by the City of London Police. The force revealed yesterday that it was inquiring into a German-based scam that offered shares in two allegedly fraudulent companies. More than 2,000 people are reported to have been duped into buying shares in the “businesses” – the Price Stone Group and Atlantic Capital Partners GMBH. The police are urging victims to contact them, believing that as many as 10,000 people could have been tricked. The German investigation is part of a nationwide operation, funded by agencies including the Serious Organised Crime Agency, to catch those behind the growing threat of investment scams. |
31 May |
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E&Y partners charged with tax fraud conspiracy Four current and former tax partners at Ernst & Young have been charged by a US grand jury with tax fraud conspiracy. The four are alleged to have marketed fraudulent tax shelters to wealthy clients who would otherwise have owed the IRS more than $10m (₤5m) apiece. |
31 May |
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The Cost of Failing to Know Your Client With increasing regulation and tougher penalties, KYC (Know Your Client) has been central to financial services industry compliance standards for many years. However, with several recent high profile cases in the media, once again, this is a hot topic of conversation. The introduction in Jersey of the Proceeds of Crime (Jersey) Law 1999 was designed to provide a comprehensive code to protect and enhance Jersey’s reputation as a transparent and well-regulated offshore centre. The legislation deals with confiscation orders, money laundering, handling the proceeds of crime, tipping off as well as setting up procedures to ‘forestall and prevent money laundering’. These latter procedures apply to those carrying on a financial services business. |
31 May |
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Lawyers who delay expensive terrorism trials face the sack Lawyers could be sacked if they cause delays during expensive terrorism trials under plans to speed up cases announced by the Government yesterday. Lawyers who act for several defendants accused of conspiracy charges will also face new measures. Law firms may be restricted to acting on legal aid for just one defendant per case. The reforms have been drawn up after consultation with senior judges. They are being put forward because of concern about delays in terrorism and fraud trials involving several defendants. |
31 May |
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LSC claims legal aid increases despite solicitors IN SPITE of solicitors' defections from civil Legal Aid work in protest against new contracts, the number of such cases in Huntingdonshire increased by one-fifth in the year to March. Nearly 1,100 vulnerable people living in the area have been helped with their legal problems, claims the Legal Services Commission, which administers Legal Aid. The LSC claims that the increase is the result of changes to the way solicitors are rewarded. Unsurprisingly, since not a single solicitor in the district now handles civil Legal Aid cases, it does not claim that the Huntingdonshire needy have been represented by Huntingdonshire solicitors. Only two firms now deal with subsidised family matters and just three - two based in Huntingdon and one in St Neots - now offer criminal Legal Aid services. |
31 May |
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Solicitors condemned for 'shameful' fee deals GREEDY lawyers who have been double-paid for representing chronically sick former miners are not "untouchable", a minister has warned. Science minister Malcolm Wicks condemned rogue solicitors as he announced the launch of an information campaign in the Rother Valley to help claimants understand their rights better. The minister pledged action following a recent damning report by former miner Lord Lofthouse, who said law firms who double charged should be shamed into returning fees they had deducted from compensation payouts. Mr Wicks launched a furious assault on such lawyers, branding their behaviour “shameful”. The compensation scheme has distributed more than £3 billion to 760,000 former British Coal workers..But former Labour MP Lord Lofthouse said some solicitors have made vast sums by also deducting money from the compensation payouts. |
30 May |
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Fraud whistleblowers could get cash rewards Members of the public who inform on companies or individuals defrauding the government could get huge rewards under possible new laws outlined today. The Home Office consultation paper on recovering more illegally-acquired assets also proposes other new measures making it easier to seize criminals' "bling", such as expensive jewellery and electrical goods like plasma screen televisions and laptop computers. The paper describes a government aim to double the current amount of illicit assets seized every year to at least £250m by 2009-10, a figure it calls a "staging post" towards an eventual annual target of £1bn a year. |
25 May |
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A legal system we can’t afford Why does it cost so much to go to court? In a judgment in April last year, Lord Justice Longmore said: “It is a well-known and rather disturbing fact that it costs far more to resolve intellectual property disputes in England than in other parts of the EEA [European Economic Area].” Recently, the European Patent Office gathered information on the relative costs of litigation across Europe. It disclosed that to litigate a small to medium-sized patent case in England costs between three and ten times as much as the same case in Germany or the Netherlands... |
22 May |
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Business continuity deadline looms for UK law firms On 1st
July 2007, business continuity planning becomes mandatory for lawyers and
solicitors in England and Wales. This is one of the impacts of rules
contained in the new ‘Solicitors' Code of Conduct’ which will be introduced
on that date by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The SRA regulates
more than 100,000 solicitors in the two countries. The regulations in
question are contained in two sections of the new code: |
22 May |
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E-mail fraudsters: we know where you live A map showing the location of British-based fraudsters who extract money from their victims with enticing get-rich-quick schemes has been compiled for The Times by investigators. Each pin marks the address, to within 100m, of a scammer who makes a living by dispatching e-mails that promise huge financial rewards in return for a small upfront investment. |
19 May |
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Alliance with lawyers? Been there, tried it KPMG is unlikely to get up-close and personal with the lawyers again following the ill-fated marriage between its former law group, KLegal, and Scottish solicitors McGrigor Donald. "We've been there, we tried it. There are plenty of things for us to do now as accountants," is the philosophical stance of KPMG Europe chairman John Griffiths-Jones. The collapse of the Andersen Legal tied network, in the wake of the Enron scandal, and a string of governance reforms such as the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act, put a damper on the trend for dual-discipline alliances. |
16 May |
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Lawyer killer's jail term raised One of two men found guilty of murdering City lawyer Tom ap Rhys Pryce during a mugging has had his minimum jail term increased. The Court of Appeal ruled the 17-year term handed to Delano Brown, 19, was "unduly lenient" and raised it to 20. But the 21-year minimum tariff imposed on Donnel Carty, 19, in November, was found to be "perfectly appropriate". |
14 May |
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Scottish regulators hit back at Which? complaint The Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates have criticised the consumer group Which? for "jumping the gun" when filing a super-complaint against the Scottish legal profession. |
14 May |
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Miners’ firms strike back at DTI over £2.4bn costs The
under-fire law firms representing sick miners in the British Coal
compensation fiasco have accused the Government of hypocrisy after its costs
topped £2bn. The Lawyer can reveal that costs for the Department of Trade &
Industry (DTI) are expected to reach £2.4bn once the compensation scheme
ends. More than 200,000 claims are still waiting to be processed. The
Government’s defence of the 780,000 sick miners’ cases means taxpayers
forked out more than £1bn in addition to that paid out to the claimants’
solicitors, which The Lawyer revealed was around £800m (9 April). |
14 May |
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Solicitor's life in tatters after she admits stealing £1,300 from law firm A YOUNG solicitor yesterday admitted stealing cash from her employer. Zosia Fraser, 29, was considered a promising lawyer with excellent prospects until her dishonesty came to light. She was subsequently sacked from her position with a Scottish law firm amid claims she was caught charging clients upfront cash payments that she then pocketed for herself. |
12 May |
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KFC backs down in legal challenge against country pub The landlady of the highest pub in Britain said "common sense had prevailed" after fast-food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken backed down over a trademark row. KFC had written to Tracy Daly ordering her to remove the slogan "Family Feast" from her menu at the Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales. The Family Feast is only available on Christmas Day and is advertised on the pub's website |
11 May |
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Brown may bring in written constitution Gordon Brown may introduce Britain's first written constitution in an attempt to restore people's trust in politics after the departure of Tony Blair. The Chancellor, who will launch his campaign for the Labour leadership today, will promise to make constitutional reform a priority. He wants to bring in a "new politics" as he tries to repair the damage after Mr Blair was accused of taking Britain to war in Iraq on a false prospectus. A written constitution could spell out the respective powers of the Government and Parliament, boosting the ability of the Commons to hold ministers to account and, for example, being guaranteed a vote before military action. The blueprint could also outline the rights and responsibilities of individual citizens. |
11 May |
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Lawyers unite to preserve compensation scheme Seven firms of solicitors joined together today to launch a High Court challenge to the abolition of a discretionary compensation scheme for victims of miscarriages of justice. The abolition - “overnight and without warning” – unfairly brought to an end more than 100 years of payments to people suffering injustice at the hands of police and state, the court was told. The seven firms, along with three individual claimants, accused the Government of acting “unfairly and unlawfully”. Two judges were told that those who received awards in previous cases would now have got nothing. |
11 May |
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Number of £1m-a-year City lawyers rises to 200 About 200 lawyers at City legal practices will earn more than £1 million this year, reflecting the dramatic increase in mergers and acquisition work. Clifford Chance, the world’s largest law firm, will break the million-pound profits per partner barrier for the first time. That rise alone will account for scores more lawyers earning seven-figure sums. However, it will be Slaughter and May, the City’s premier corporate firm, whose 120 partners will be earning the most... |
10 May |
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KFC sues England's highest pub The highest pub in England is standing up to Kentucky Fried Chicken in a David-and-Goliath battle over the right to call one of their meals a "family feast". Every Christmas, the remote Tan Hill Inn in the Yorkshire Dales serves a traditional meal of turkey with all the trimmings for £40 a head. However, American fast food giant KFC is suing the quirky local for trademark infringement of the chain's own "Family Feast" - a mass-produced carton of 10 chicken pieces, chips, coleslaw, potato with gravy, and 1.25 litre soft drink. When pub landlady Tracy Daly, 42, received a letter from Freshfields law firm on London, on behalf of KFC, she initially thought it was a late April Fool's joke. Even the solicitor's name, Giles Pratt, sounded suspicious, she said. But she called him, and heard it was serious. "The solicitor told me I shouldn't take it personally, but I don't feel anything - it's just hilarious," she told The Times newspaper. |
10 May |
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Promise to sick miners COPELAND MP Jamie Reed is vowing to ensure Cumbrians suffering from working in the mines get their deserved compensation. A damning report last week said the scheme for sick miners, which could include many from Cumbria, has been exploited by a few unscrupulous solicitors. The fund was meant to distribute £3.4bn compensation to 760,000 former British Coal workers, many who had suffered serious injuries. But Labour peer Lord Lofthouse said while miners have had their pay-outs reduced by legal fees, at least two legal firms had pocketed more than £100m from the scheme. It is thought a lot of cash was swindled after double charging, where legal fees are taken from the government and then deducted from individual’s compensation payouts. Mr Reed said: “I find it grotesque that these people have been able to generate so much money for their business, by in effect trading on the vulnerability of former miners and their families.” |
09 May |
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Warning over resources for split ministry Trade unions, prison reform campaigners and opposition MPs warned on Tuesday that today's creation of a new Ministry of Justice and slimmed-down Home Office risked unravelling because of a lack of funding and in-adequate planning. Civil service unions said ministers had failed to learn the lessons of previous Whitehall reorganisations, which showed that two departments could not be spun out of one with the same resources without damaging services. The warnings came as Tony Blair carried out the final ministerial reshuffle of his decade of power in pre-paration for today's launch. |
09 May |
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Justice ministry faces jails crisis as Home Office splits in two Britain's first Ministry of Justice emerges today out of the rubble of the "not fit for purpose" Home Office to face a mounting prison crisis with prisoner numbers in England and Wales hitting a new record. The prison population, which is increasing by more than 200 a week, reached 80,674 on Monday night - just 400 short of total capacity. Lord Falconer, who is confirmed today as the first secretary of state for justice, is under increasing pressure to deal with the crisis. |
09 May |
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Lawyer jailed for drug run to prison lover A lovestruck lawyer caught smuggling drugs into prison for her gangster boyfriend was jailed for five years on Tuesday. Trainee solicitor Kate Dooley was caught with £1,000 of heroin and cannabis stashed in her boots and underwear as she visited violent criminal Scott Jeffries. |
09 May |
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Trinity snaps up jobs sites MEDIA group Trinity Mirror has bought recruitment websites TotallyLegal.com and TotallyFinancial.com in an £11.8 million deal. The firm, which owns newspapers including the Daily Record and the Sunday Mail, said today it had bought out parent company TotallyLegal.com. Group chief executive Sly Bailey said: "This is the latest stage in our strategy of developing our digital businesses." |
08 May |
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Fake students net loan millions Criminal gangs have obtained millions of pounds in student loans by enrolling "ghost students" in universities, a BBC investigation has found. The University admissions body, Ucas, has recorded a large increase in suspected fraud to 1,500 cases in 2006. One fraudster enrolled himself on five different degree courses at the same university and had 17 fake identities. |
06 May |
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The Lawyer magazine publishes fascinating May 2007 podcast: Kevan Jones MP, Tom Jones of Thompsons Solicitors and Peter Williamson of the Solicitors Regulation Authority discuss their views on whether solicitors have overstepped the mark by profiting from handling the compensation claims of sick coal miners. Listen online or download in iTunes or mp3 formats. |
See also: |
04 May |
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LCS to approach thousands of miners over fees The Legal Complaints Service (LCS)
is to canvas thousands of former miners directly to determine whether
solicitors wrongly deducted fees from their compensation claims. The LCS
will write to claimants who suffered serious chest disease and vibration
white-finger injuries, asking if they received poor service from their
solicitor and offering to help recover fees if appropriate. The government
launched the compensation scheme, the biggest of its kind worldwide, in
1999. To date, £3.4 billion has been paid out in more than 760,000 claims.
However, the scheme became mired in controversy after it emerged that some
solicitors had deducted fees from miners’ awards – for mining unions or
themselves – despite the fact the government had already paid solicitors’
costs. |
04 May |
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FSA should 'step-up' crime fight The Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, needs to do more to combat financial crime, a report says. The National Audit office (NAO) said the fight against crime had received "less attention than other elements of the FSA's responsibilities". In particular, the FSA needs to step-up its policing of small firms if it is to combat crime better, the NAO said. However, the NAO said the FSA was doing a good job overall in protecting and educating consumers. |
02 May |
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Wife put excrement in man's curry A disgruntled wife has admitted feeding her husband a curry containing dog excrement after their relationship broke down. Jill Martin, 47, pleaded guilty at Paisley Sheriff Court to culpable and reckless conduct against former husband Donald Martin. During the hearing, defence solicitor Terry Gallanagh likened the case to "an episode of Desperate Housewives". |
01 May |
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The Law Society is right to observe that “in our burgeoning blame culture, it is to be expected that some plaintiffs who become mired in litigation may have only themselves to blame”. For who could blame the lawyers when, every day, my postbag sags beneath the weight of letters like this? (yours too, eh? UJ) |
01 May |
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Dell to use Ubuntu on Linux PCs Computer maker Dell has chosen Ubuntu as the operating system for its range of Linux computers for consumers. Fans of Linux hope that the move will persuade more mainstream PC users to abandon Microsoft Windows and opt for the open-source operating system. London-based firm Canonical, the lead sponsor of the Ubuntu project, will ensure the software works on Dell PCs. Ubuntu includes software like office programs, e-mail, a browser, instant messaging software and a media player. Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and chief executive of Dell, is himself an Ubuntu user. He has the operating system installed on a high-end Dell Precision M90 laptop he uses at home. (Not strictly an UnjustIS matter, but it's very exciting on a number of levels. See: Utilities. UJ) |
01 May |
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Legal aid reforms 'would limit access to justice for the needy' The Lord Chancellor faces renewed pressure to drop or delay plans for overhauling the legal aid scheme with a damning report today from MPs. The Constitutional Affairs Committee says that if the proposed reforms go ahead, there is a risk to access to justice for the most vulnerable in society.The Constitutional Affairs Committee says that if the proposed reforms go ahead. there is a risk to access to justice for the most vulnerable in society. Four separate court challenges are being prepared against the Lord Chancellor over plans to overhaul the scheme. |
01 May |
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New bar association launched to raise direct access awareness A new barristers' association is to be launched to promote direct access to the bar. The Public Access Bar Association (PABA) will aim to encourage the Bar Council to improve public awareness of the option to instruct a barrister before using a solicitor. PABA will represent the hundreds of barristers who registered in July 2004 to take on work directly from the public without having to go through a law firm. Marc Beaumont of Windsor Chambers, the acting PABA chairman pending committee appointments, said that there is a high level of public ignorance when it comes to direct access. |
30 Apr |
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Blair forced to launch inquiry into miners' compensation scandal The Government has been pressurised into launching an investigation into law firms allegedly exploiting sick miners under the coalminers' compensation scheme. Labour peer Lord Lofthouse of Pontefract's final report on the conduct of firms handling claims under the compensation scheme lambasts them as "greedy lawyers" and has led to a Government inquiry. In his report, which was presented to Tony Blair last Wednesday (25 April), Lofthouse alleges that law firms have been "double-charging" and siphoning money from miners' compensation. As The Lawyer revealed (9 April), the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) paid out more than £800m to 30 law firms for handling claims for coalminers who have suffered from respiratory diseases and vibration white finger. |
30 Apr |
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Not
particularly wise counsel