Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Inconsistent prosecution of ‘crooked lawyers’ hits consumer protection as Glasgow solicitor admits embezzlement charges over client funds

Law Society of ScotlandLaw Society only prosecute a handful of crooked lawyers. LAWYERS GONE BAD is a now familiar tale in Scotland, where it appears now more likely clients will end up being ripped off by their lawyer instead of being helped. The now widely held perception that Scottish solicitors are a touch less than honest was yet again reinforced today by news of another ‘crooked lawyer’, this time from Glasgow law firm Cannons, admitting to charges of embezzling funds from clients trust accounts.

Lynne Sim, a partner with Cannons Law Partnership, admitted embezzling £16,956.84 between December 2005 and May 2006 from various trust accounts to pay off clients who were allegedly awaiting payments from other companies. She claimed she planned to pay the money back into the accounts when payments arrived.

The court heard that discrepancies in the law firm’s client accounts emerged while Ms Sim was on maternity leave with one client saying he had received a payment in respect of a dispute with an insurance company, but the insurers denying that any payment had been made. When investigations began, it transpired that funds to pay a cheque had been taken from the trust account of another client.

In mitigation, Ms Sim’s defence solicitor, Iain Fleming told the court there was no financial gain for his client, and insinuated his client might even have suffered a financial loss, because she had repaid not only the sums that were diverted, but also the interest that would have been lost, claiming it was all a question of "borrowing from one account to pay other clients".

While Ms Sim has been suspended by the Law Society of Scotland for acting as a lawyer for 10 years, and has of course, been prosecuted, admitted guilt, and will be sentenced next month, the problem here is there is a great deal of unevenness in the legal profession’s resolve to prosecute and deal with ‘crooked lawyers’ in a way which will protect consumers from repeat offenders, many of whom slip through the Law Society’s closed shop complaints system, going onto fleece hundreds more unsuspecting clients throughout Scotland who know nothing of their crooked past.

Crown Office on prosecutions of solicitorsCrown Office letter revealed lack of will to prosecute crooked lawyers. A prime example of this would be the recent case of another Glasgow lawyer, Catriona Macfarlane, who covered up her mortgage broker husband’s theft of funds from a client she also represented, a story you can read more about here : Glasgow lawyer who covered up husband's £24k client theft gets slap on the wrist by Law Society tribunal, continues working, which, suspiciously the Crown Office failed to pick up on for a prosecution, which I further reported, here : Law Society ‘routinely fails to report crime' as Crown Office admits it never received report on Glasgow lawyer theft cover-up investigation

‘Crooked lawyers’ not always struck off despite Law Society claims :

The lesson here of course, is not to trust your lawyer with your funds, handle them yourself. After all, its your money so why surrender it to some poorly regulated lawyer who can basically do as they please with it, and if lost to you, will take years to recover through complex claim procedures against the infamous “Guarantee Fund” and lengthy Law Society red tape, which still does not guarantee a full refund after being plundered by a lawyer.

For a little guidance on Client accounts, I wrote an advisory on the subject last year, here : Advisory : Clients must protect their money from unsafe legal firms as Law Society's Guarantee Fund fails.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

like you I feel all lawyers should be criminally prosecuted for what they do to clients because in any other job its THEFT

THEFT = criminal is it not ?

Anonymous said...

Hi Peter
It was Macfarlane's hubby who committed the theft (begs the question why he was not charged) but I see your point (wife was/is an accomplice)

Anonymous said...

Point taken on the prosecutions but by the same token wouldn't you agree Lynne shouldn't have been prosecuted because she didn't actually take any money for herself ?

Anonymous said...

There is NO consumer protection against lawyers!They run the whole show and let their pals get away with MURDER.If you challenge them they try to MURDER you 2!

Anonymous said...

Law Society only prosecute a handful of crooked lawyers. LAWYERS GONE BAD is a now familiar tale in Scotland, (LET A LAWYER HANDLE YOUR MONEY AND IT WILL VANISH) where it appears now more likely clients will end up being ripped off by their lawyer instead of being helped. (CORRECT PETER, THEY LINE THIR POCKETS BECAUSE THE SLCC/LAW SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP AND HEIARCHY DO THE SAME). The now widely held perception that Scottish solicitors are a touch less than honest was yet again reinforced today by news of another ‘crooked lawyer’, (SCOTTISH LAWYERS ARE LOWLIFE ROBBERS) this time from Glasgow law firm Cannons, admitting to charges of embezzling funds from clients trust accounts.

STEAL, STEAL, STEAL. AND LAW SOCIETY KEEP COVERING IT ALL UP. PEOPLE HAD A CHANCE AGAINST DICK TURPUN, BECAUSE THEY COULD SHOOT HIM. BUT A SCOTTISH LAWYER, COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR LAWYER, AND GUESS WHAT. THE LAW SOCIETY FEEL SORRY FOR YOUR THIEVING LAWYER, YOU THE CLIENT ARE TOTALLY UNIMPORTANT TO THEM.

NOTHING HAS CHANGED AT THE LAW SOCIETY SINCE MR MILL'S RESIGNATION. IMAGINE IF A MEMBER OF THE PULIIC ROBBED A HIGH STREET BANK AND THE STATE PROTECTED THAT PERSON. KEEP THE MONEY IT IS FINE.

WELCOME TO THE LAW SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND, REWARDERS OF CROOKED LAWYERS, COMPASSIONLESS WITH THE LAWYERS VICTIM. THIS IS THE MINDSET SELF REGULATION CREATES IN THE LEGAL CROOKED WARPED MIND.

Oh I nearly forgot, an interesting report Peter, we expect our Law Society enemies to reward their own. All the best.

Anonymous said...

‘Crooked lawyers’ not always struck off despite Law Society claims.

Well Mr Yelland what can I say? The Law Society should start with you, many clients including moi, think you are the biggest crook in Scotland. The Society keep a man who send the farmer the the Legal Defence Union, to claim against the Master Policy. Yes you Mr Yelland the Client Oppression Officer. The only decent lawyer is one who has passed away.

Anonymous said...

Ridiculous defence - She would have been way in over her head and the money never repaid.No wonder she had to plead guilty.

Who compensated the emptied accounts ? Conveniently we dont get to hear of the Law Society's audit due to the guilty plea but it should be made known.

Anonymous said...

Crown Office letter revealed lack of will to prosecute crooked lawyers.

There is a lack of will because their is a two tier justice system in Scotland. What does this say internationally? Get a law degree, do a traineeship, and you are above the law.

If "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" for the general public then those with legal knowledge should be prosected because they know they are criminals. They cannot claim they did not know about the legality of something. Clearly escaping the consequences of your actions is the norm in Scotland if you are a lawyer.

Anonymous said...

I find the lawyer's story very hard to believe.

Whoever heard of a good embezzlement ? haha what a joke !

Anonymous said...

Yes Peter this is a form of legal theft.

The lesson here of course, is not to trust your lawyer with your funds, handle them yourself. After all, its your money so why surrender it to some poorly regulated lawyer who can basically do as they please with it, and if lost to you, will take years to recover through complex claim procedures against the infamous “Guarantee Fund” and lengthy Law Society red tape, which still does not guarantee a full refund after being plundered by a lawyer.

Anonymous said...

JAIL !!! AND NEVER ALLOWED TO BE A LAWYER AGAIN !!!

Anonymous said...

One little fish by way of window dressing.

I wonder when we those solicitors charged with involvement in the theft of the Duke of Buccleuch's painting by Leonardo Da Vinci will be sentenced - if ever.

Anonymous said...

Obviously her face doesnt fit hence the prosecution

Anonymous said...

Who gives a f*ck if shes a lawyer or not
She should go to jail like anyone else

Anonymous said...

Defence lawyer Iain Fleming told the court that there was no financial gain for his client. He said:"There's actually a suggestion that she suffered a financial loss because she has repaid not only the sums which were diverted but also the interest which would have been lost."

Anonymous said...

Nothing compared with Penman but she lands in court ? very fishy

Anonymous said...

Easy answer to this : criminalise the conduct of lawyers and if they fail a client haul their ass in front of a court instead of their co-workers !

Anonymous said...

Should Cannons not also be in trouble? After all the employer did not go to the police, the Law Society did when they noticed the discrepancies by chance.
Anyway, Sim will never be sent to jail, 1 she is a woman, 2 she has kids and 3 she is a lawyer.
The value in lawyers drops as time goes by, to the layman, they are seen as nothing but parasites.