November 2004

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Date posted on UnjustIS

Dishonest solicitor struck off

LITTLEHAMPTON solicitor Robin Parslow has been struck off, for failing to keep financial records of his practice and lying to investigators.

Government to hike civil court fees

Civil court fees are set to rise from 4 January, it was announced this morning (30 November).

‘Rogues gallery’ websites to expose mystery pursuer

TWIN websites dedicated to exposing corrupt Scottish lawyers were shut down after their internet service provider in the US apparently caved in to legal pressure.

Mass resignation threat by judges

Judges threatened mass resignations unless they were exempted from tighter controls on pensions, it emerged yesterday. The unpredecented threat by "a significant number" to step down from the bench is revealed in an official document buried on the website of the Department of Constitutional Affairs.

Guardian

BBC

Secret appointment of QCs to end

THE notorious system of appointing Queen’s Counsel through “secret soundings” is to be ended under a modern accreditation system agreed by the profession’s elite.

Rogue shopping channel goes bust

Auctionworld, the shopping channel fined £450,000 by Ofcom last week, has gone into administration with debts of £14m.

City law firms must wipe out Oxbridge bias, minister says

CITY law firms must take steps to eliminate persistent discrimination in favour of Oxbridge graduates, David Lammy, Minister for Constitutional Affairs, said yesterday.

Lawyers attack EU move to clean up money laundering

EUROPE’S lawyers are up in arms over a proposed EU law to combat money laundering that will force solicitors to snitch on their clients and report suspicious transactions to the authorities. The Council of Bars and Law Societies of the European Union fears that the EU Commission’s Third Directive on Money Laundering will undermine the confidential relationship between a lawyer and his client.

Financial consultant stole £1.8m for life of luxury

A financial consultant who stole £1.8 million of his clients' money over more than a decade to finance a lavish lifestyle was jailed for six years yesterday. Michael Hart's 12 years of fraud helped pay for exotic holidays, an Aston Martin, a Range Rover and BMWs, designer clothes, bills running into thousands at lap dancing clubs and even a £4,000 breast enhancement surgery for his wife... He funded his lifestyle by stealing from 21 clients, including an 80-year-old widow who lost life savings of more than £46,000.

Dundas & Wilson acts to protect personal assets of partners

DUNDAS & Wilson has become the first of Scotland's elite law firms to convert to limited liability partnership (LLP) status, ushering in a new era of financial transparency in the highest echelon of the profession.

Yarmouth man loses legal costs battle

A Yarmouth man wrongly identified by photograph in the Sun newspaper as a paedophile today lost a High Court battle over the legal costs he ran up suing the newspaper.

QC gets £606,000 in legal aid fees

The Labour peer Daniel Brennan QC received £606,000 in fees from legal aid in 2002-03, making him the highest earning barrister from civil legal aid, according to figures released yesterday by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Bosses of rogue cold calls firm struck off

THE directors of a city telesales firm which was hit with the most complaints of any company in the UK have been struck off for a total of 25 years. Berger & Co, which had offices in Howe Street and St Vincent Street, made up to 70,000 "cold calls" every month to businesses, offering advice and analysis on management and human resources.

Tories' privatisation adviser struck off

One of Britain's most senior accountants, who made his name advising Conservative governments on the privatisation of Railtrack and the water and electricity industries, has been branded a liar and a fraudster by the accounting profession's disciplinary tribunal. Stephen Ives, 54, a former partner at Deloitte & Touche, was yesterday struck off as a chartered accountant...

Final Settlement Restores $79 Million for Global Crossing Retirement Plans

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A federal district court in New York City has approved a final settlement of $79 million for the benefit of workers and retirees of the Global Crossing retirement plan.

Fraudster jailed for four years

A former software marketeer based in Durham, who conned about 50 friends and family connections into putting £4.25m into a bogus investment scheme, was sentenced yesterday to four years in jail.
A judge at Newcastle crown court was told how Malcolm Varrick, 29, claimed to have developed options-trading software that would generate returns of up to 8% a month. Over a year, he promised to double investors' cash.

Online scam is halted

DOZENS of people have been saved thousands of pounds after ECHO Action exposed a crooked internet sales scam.

Insider reveals asylum fraud

A WHITEHALL whistleblower has criticised the government’s immigration policy by revealing the “lies and false excuses” that enable scores of failed asylum seekers to settle in Britain.

LEGAL SCANDAL:

Article and link removed 25 Nov 2004.

While UnjustIS investigates this matter further, it might be worth considering this:

The Law Society of Scotland's "Client Relations Office Helpline" will not answer any questions about the credentials or right to practice of any Scottish lawyer, claiming such information to be "confidential". Their helpline number is: +44 0845 1130018 It might or might not be helpful.

The Law Society of England and Wales, despite its shortcomings, is somewhat more helpful.

Manx poet fined

A poet and internet publisher on the Isle of Man escaped imprisonment yesterday for refusing to reveal his sources in a libel case. Roly Drower, 51, was instead fined £2,500 by a judge on the self-governing island, and ordered to pay what his lawyer said would be "substantial" costs.

Poet faces jail in libel battle with millionaire

Rarely can two opponents have been so unequally matched in a libel fight. The heavyweight plaintiff is a property developer, Albert Gubay, based offshore on the Isle of Man, and reportedly worth £650m.

Exhibit A: ghastly tat

Occasionally in courtrooms around the world, judges and juries are exposed to some pretty horrific images.

Criminals 'joining finance firms'

Organised crime members are applying for jobs in financial companies so they can commit fraud, a watchdog warns.

Nabarros shuts down final salary pension fund

Nabarro Nathanson has shut its final salary pension scheme for staff as the City firm moves to limit its future liabilities. The firm told employees last week that the long-running final salary pension scheme would be replaced with a money purchase scheme. Pension lawyers say that this means that members, upon retirement, will be entitled to benefits that they have accrued to date, but any on-going pensions contributions will be made to a new scheme. Legal Week sample ends here. Unjustis comment starts here:  "Over the years many members of Nabarro Nathanson have felt a strong sense of community responsibility for the areas in which they live and work.". More on this theme, soon. UJ

Lawyer's £300,000 for writing letter

A German lawyer won himself a place in the Guinness Book of Records after he earned more than £300,000 for less than an hour's work.

Lawyers warned to end 'compensation culture'

Lawyers were today warned to end the compensation culture or face Government regulation. Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the Lord Chancellor, said aggressive advertising created a climate of fear despite falling numbers of accident claims.

Multi-million pound claim will 'waste' Diana memorial funds

A multi-million pound legal battle which friends of Diana, Princess of Wales, say should never have reached court opens in Los Angeles today. The Franklin Mint, an American company which makes souvenirs including Diana dolls, is suing the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund in a case described as "savage and punitive" by one British charity.

Lawyers' row could delay new QCs

A dispute between barristers and solicitors over the new framework for appointing Queen's Counsel has dashed expectations that the first new-style QCs would be sworn in next Easter.

Adviser stole £76,000 from OAPs

A building society worker stole more than £76,000 from the accounts of elderly customers after befriending them, a court heard. Helen Falmai Evans, 57, from Abergele, north Wales, a customer adviser at the Yorkshire Building Society in the town, raided accounts since 1991.

Fury over legal aid for wealthy lawyer

A WEALTHY city lawyer who admitted embezzling £20,000 from clients has caused outrage after it was revealed he was given taxpayers’ cash during his court case. Critics have slammed a decision to pay legal aid to Richard McAnulty, 46, despite the fact he lives in a £400,000 house, drives a Mercedes, runs a successful chain of sandwich shops and has two children at a fee-paying school.

"Solicitor masterminded massive legal aid fraud

A flamboyant lawyer best known for representing murderer Tracie Andrews has served a jail sentence for masterminding a multi-million Legal Aid fraud, it can be revealed today. Solicitor Timothy Robinson, now 60, was convicted of conspiring to systematically defraud the Legal Aid system of huge sums of cash over a period of almost six years." (Independent)

"More than 20 staff from Robinsons Solicitors - which had offices in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bristol and Swindon - have been convicted of defrauding the Legal Aid system. On Friday, as the final trial collapsed, reporting restrictions were lifted, and the full extent of the crimes could at last be revealed." (BBC)

An account of the case is also published today by the Gloucestershire Constabulary in an information pack “Operation Alison”. Contact Chelmsford (01242) 276071.

Independent

The Scotsman

BBC

Serious Fraud Office

Operation Alison Media Release

Miners deceived on pensions

A financial advisor who took almost £800,000 from the miners' pension fund at Tower Colliery, has been found guilty of deception. Workers who bought Wales' last deep mine employed Colin Stanton to set up a pension scheme, but they found money they expected had disappeared. Stanton was found guilty of four charges of evading liability by deception at Reading Crown Court.

'Extortionate' debt is wiped out

A judge has wiped out a couple's debt of £384,000 which had spiralled from £5,750 due to "extortionate" compounded interest rates.

Chancery Lane receives complaints handling targets

The Legal Services Complaints Commissioner Zahida Manzoor has issued the Law Society with its first set of targets for complaints handling — and has warned it that she will not accept excuses for under performance.

Legal Week

Yorkshire Post