Debate on reform bill against crooked lawyers this week in the Scottish Parliament

MSPs at the Scottish Parliament are going to have a chance to "consider the general principles of the LPLA Bill in the light of the Justice 2 Committee's stage 1 report, during the afternoon of Thursday 7 September 2006" - reports the J2 Committee by email to me

So, if you want to support independent regulation of the legal profession - and bring in reforms which will put the stops on some of those crooked lawyers, you better email or contact your msp to air your support for the LPLA Bill before Thursday of this week.

If the Parliament agrees to the LPLA Bill's principles, it will then proceed to Stage 2 - where amendments may be heard.

As the J2 Committee reports, no amendments can be lodged until the msps of the Parliament agree to the Bill's general principles this coming Thursday... so, who do you think might disagree ?

Maybe an msp who is sympathetic to lawyers, and hates the guts of clients and constituents who write to them about how lawyers ripped them off ?

Maybe even an msp who is a lawyer, or who is affiliated with the Law Society of Scotland or the legal profession in some way .. might just throw in some obstructions .. so the crooked lawyers can keep on robbing the public ?

Who would do such a thing ? - believe me, there are a few candidates who may have some dirty tricks up their sleeves, according to sources in meetings I've had this past weekend ...

It will certainly be an interesting debate .. and only time will tell this week how the LPLA Bill will progress .. when we see the 'friends of the legal profession' come out to try and 'pork out' the LPLA Bill with various seedy twisted corrupt excuses .. just to keep their pals happy over at Drumsheugh Gardens .. and earn perhaps, a wee bit extra on the side for their part in derailing important pro-consumer reforms, just for the sake of a few lawyers filling their pockets some more.

On the subject of amendments .. those of you who read my blog are aware I am opposed to the proposed amendment by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) - to allow their member accountants to handle wills & probate services - which is currently handled by solicitors.

I reported on my opposition to the ICAS amendment in previous coverage at :
http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/07/scottish-accountants-try-to-amend-lpla.html &
http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/07/concerns-over-scottish-accountants-and.html

Amendments to the LPLA Bill await to be lodged - since the Bill still has to be considered firstly, by the Parliament this week ... but since amendments can only b e lodged by an msp - it will be interesting to see who comes out for the just-as-crooked Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and posts their amendment ... no doubt someone with a sympathetic ear to ICAS ... maybe even someone affiliated to ICAS in some way .. who may even earn a big bit on the side for getting their amendment through - since ICAS seem so desperate to get this one in the pot.

Why are ICAS so desperate to get their amendment to favour their accountants through on the LPLA Bill ?

Well, as I reported before, if accountants are allowed to handle wills & probate services, when your accountant makes a mess of it - which they will surely do - you, the public, won't be able to do anything about it - because accountants are regulated by their colleagues at ICAS.

The scenario of accountants regulating accountants over the years has proved just as bad as crooked lawyers being investigated by the even more crooked Law Society of Scoltand - which is why we are here talking about the LPLA Bill in the first place.

If the ICAS amendment goes through - accountants will still be under their shield of self-regulation, where complaints go buried and no one gets proper, if any, compensation - while lawyers will have to face the scrunity of the new independent Scottish Legal Complaints Commission - where clients and the public will have a much better chance of getting their grievances heard against crooked lawyers who have overcharged, embezzled money, stolen from or defrauded their clients, failed to do work .. ruined livlihoods & businesses .. etc ..

Here's the catch though - if an accountant takes on the business of handling your will, and subcontracts much of the work back to a lawyer (as a secret agreement between ICAS and the Law Society of Scotland seems to suggest). then, when they take what's yours for themselves, instead of giving it to whoever you have left it to - there will be nothing your beneficiaries will be able to do about it - as the only complaint you will be able to make will be against the accountant, and ICAS will make sure that nothing happens - and it doesn't stop at wills ... no .. the Chartered Accountant will be able to strip your assets bare - and there will be not one thing - nothing at all, you can do about it ..

If you want an example of this - then read this : http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/03/norman-howitt-crooked-borders.html
&
http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/08/dont-trust-your-lawyer-or-accountant.html

- where a Borders Accountant - Norman Howitt, of Welch Accountants, Hawick, raided my family for every penny - a real con artist - and ICAS made sure nothing happened to the crooked accountant Howitt, despite the many frauds he has been involved in against my family. To make matters worse, it was the Director of Legal Services at ICAS - Tom McMorrow - who let Howitt off the hook - after a sham of several house visits to me, assuring everything would be done .. but it was all lies .. pure lies - nothing was done, and Howitt got away with it to rip off others.

So, we will have to wait and see who crawls out of the woodwork to represent the crooked accountants amendment to the LPLA Bil to promote their quest to get their greedy snouts in the trough along with lawyers, and rip off the deceased, just as Norman Howitt did in a fine example if ever there was one needed ... that;ll be a 'nice little earner' for whoever was bought off - sorry, I mean .. represents the views of the crooked accounting profession.

Here's the email from the Justice 2 Committee announcing progress this week - so get writing everyone - and make sure your MSP stands up and tells Parliament just how much correspondence they get from their constituents - and how, over the years, they have made thousands of representations to the Scottish Executive and the Law Society on behalf of constituents ...

From: Anne.Peat@scottish.parliament.uk
To: petercherbi@
Subject: RE: Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill - amendments &
debate
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006

Mr Cherbi

The Parliament is expected to consider the general principles of the LPLA Bill in light of the Justice 2 Committee's stage 1 report, during the afternoon of Thursday 7 September. If the Parliament agrees to the Bill's general principles, the Bill will then proceed to stage 2, the amending stage.

No amendments can be lodged until the Parliament agrees to the Bill's general principles, therefore the earliest date that any amendment could be lodged would be Friday 8 Sep. Amendments can only be lodged by MSPs and all amendments lodged will be published in the Business Bulletin and considered by the Justice 2 Committee. I do not know whether any MSP will decide to adopt the proposed ICAS amendment and lodge it.

All amendments lodged will appear in the Parliament's business bulletin which is published daily, other than in recess. It can be accessed here and any amendments lodged will appear in Section G.
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/businessBulletin/index.htm

I hope this is helpful.
Anne Peat
Justice 2 Committee
The Scottish Parliament
Direct Dial Telephone 0131 34 85220
Fax 0131 34 85252
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