Scottish Legal Aid Board remove law firm from criminal legal assistance register. THE SCOTTISH LEGAL AID BOARD (SLAB) revealed yesterday it has finally removed the Paisley law firm of Robertson & Ross Ltd and one of its directors, Fraser Currie, from the list of firms & solicitors registered to provide criminal legal assistance, some eight months on after it was first revealed in the Sunday Mail newspaper in July 2010 there was to be no criminal prosecution of another solicitor Iain Robertson from the same law firm after he returned a a massive £221,847 to the Scottish Legal Aid Board.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board said that for law firms to register and remain registered to practice criminal legal assistance, individual firms and solicitors must show that they meet the standards of service set out by the code in three main areas - management and administration systems, standards of service and standards of professional conduct.
Clearly, Messrs Robertson & Ross must have failed to meet those those “standards of service” which SLAB claim to rigorously enforce, although why the law firm was not charged with criminal offences is yet to be exposed in a scandal which may well rock the Scottish Legal Aid Board, the Crown Office and the Law Society of Scotland.
I reported on the Crown Office’s apparent refusal to prosecute Robertson & Ross over the legal aid case in an earlier article, here : Justice for all ? Scotland’s Crown Office refuse to prosecute ‘crooked lawyers’ who 'wrongly' claimed £221K in Legal Aid funds
It should be noted that while the law form of Messrs Robertson & Ross have now been removed from the Criminal legal Assistance Register by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, this move only prevents the law firm from doing legal aid work in relation to criminal cases. It does not prevent them from doing private-fee work as this is outside the Board’s responsibility.
The Press Release (pdf) from the Scottish Legal Aid Board reads as follows :
Removal of firm and solicitor from the criminal legal assistance register The Scottish Legal Aid Board announced today that it had removed the firm of Robertson and Ross Limited, 7 Causeyside Street, Paisley, PA1 1UW, and one of its directors Fraser Currie, from the list of firms and solicitors registered to provide criminal legal assistance. This means that the firm and individual solicitor cannot now provide criminal legal assistance.
The removal of the firm and Mr Currie follows investigations by the Board in relation to the Board’s code of practice for criminal legal assistance and is as a result of further information becoming available to the Board during the July 2010 deregistration of Mssrs. Iain Robertson, director of the firm and Alastair Gibb, a former associate of the firm for similar failings.
These investigations revealed significant failures to comply with the code which included the submission of accounts that overcharged travel to prisons.As a result of non-compliance with the Board’s code of practice, the firm of Robertson and Ross Limited previously repaid to the Legal Aid Fund, the sum of £221,847.
The Board has a substantial programme of monitoring and investigating legal aid expenditure involving both legal aid applicants and the legal profession. While it can stop solicitors doing criminal legal aid work under its own powers, currently only the Law Society of Scotland can stop solicitors from doing civil legal aid work.
Where the Board has concerns about the conduct of lawyers or advocates, it can make formal complaints to the appropriate regulatory body (for example, the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates or the Legal Complaints Commission) and may also forward cases for consideration to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service.
In 2009-2010, the Board’s compliance and investigations work resulted in savings and recoveries of nearly £2 million and a number of cases involving solicitors, applicants and legally-aided assisted persons were reported to the Crown Office.
The Board manages legal aid in Scotland, which is paid for by the taxpayer and delivered by solicitor and counsel. A key part of the Board’s work is ensuring firms and solicitors abide by legislation, guidance and the code of practice for criminal legal assistance. This work is important in protecting the Legal Aid Fund and the taxpayer. It is also a protection for the vast majority of legal aid practitioners who provide a quality legal service with honesty and integrity
While the Press Release from the Scottish Legal Aid Board claims “In 2009-2010, the Board’s compliance and investigations work resulted in savings and recoveries of nearly £2 million and a number of cases involving solicitors, applicants and legally-aided assisted persons were reported to the Crown Office”, raising the probability there should have been several prosecutions of law firms for legal aid fraud, it appears the only people being charged or prosecuted over legal aid fraud, are the applicants, rather than solicitors or law firms … a scandal in the making which will soon be revealed in an upcoming investigation.
Lets not forget how it takes the media to expose a scandal in the legal world as The Sunday Mail reported in July 2010 :
LIAR AID : Fury as shamed lawyer stays out of court despite admitting £221k of bogus claims
Jul 18 2010 Exclusive by Derek Alexander, Sunday Mail
A LAWYER has escaped the dock - after handing back more than £200,000 of bogus legal aid claims.
A criminal probe into Iain Robertson has been dropped after he returned £221,847 to the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Amazingly, Robertson is even allowed to continue claiming legal aid for civil cases while waiting to discover if he will be struck off.
The scandal centred on the 57-year-old shamed solicitor and his firm Robertson & Ross in Paisley. Another lawyer - Aberdeen-based Alastair Gibb - was also investigated.
Scots Lib Dem justice spokesman Robert Brown demanded to know why Robertson is not being taken to court. He said: "It seems that the Crown Office have some questions to answer as to why they didn't prosecute what appears to be a straightforward fraud involving a significant amount of money."
Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker added: "This is a very serious issue and we should have clarity on why the Crown Office decided not to proceed. "The sum of cash is huge and I'll be interested to know why the lawyers involved haven't faced criminal charges."
Robertson was accused of submitting £223,000 worth of false claims for taxpayers' cash from SLAB over an 18-month period. The claims were based on Gibb travelling thousands of miles from Paisley to see clients in Aberdeen and Peterhead prisons. In reality, Gibb was living in Kingswells, near Aberdeen.
Earlier this month, Robertson agreed to pay have back £221,847 to SLAB and was banned from claiming criminal legal aid cash in the future. But he's still allowed to claim legal aid for any civil cases he undertakes. Gibb, 60, did not renew his certificate to practise as a solicitor with the Law Society of Scotland after SLAB called in police two years ago.
Fraud squad detectives submitted a detailed report about the case to Crown prosecutors in April, 2008. But officials marked the case "no proceedings" and stubbornly refuse to explain their decision.
Last year Robertson & Ross received £367,600 in legal aid compared to £832,000 between 2007 and 2008. Legal aid exists to pay fees for those who can't afford to hire a solicitor.
Gibb claimed he was sacked by Robertson & Ross but was awarded a cash settlement by the firm before an unfair dismissal tribunal. He said: "What went on between SLAB and Robertson & Ross is totally outwith my knowledge, other than that I assisted SLAB once. I'm now 60 and don't have a hope in hell of getting a job now. I've been wiped out."
In December, 2008, Robertson was censured by the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal for ripping off a client for £21,308. He took cash payments from the woman while claiming legal aid for the work. He was fined £5000 and found guilty of professional misconduct.
A SLAB spokesman said: "Iain Robertson and Alastair Gibb have been investigated. The sum of £221,847 has been paid back."
Robertson said: "It was accepted that payments had been wrongly claimed and as the supervising partner I had to accept responsibility. "We dealt with the matter and agreed the figures. I'm disappointed that SLAB have taken the decision they have."
A Crown Office spokeswoman said: "We received a report in relation to two men aged, 60 and 57, in relation to an alleged incident in Paisley in 2008. After full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances, Crown Counsel instructed there should be no proceedings in relation to this matter."
Yet another stitch up I assume because if it had been some client who took the money they would have been in court found guilty and probably hanged by now
ReplyDeleteScots Lib Dem justice spokesman Robert Brown demanded to know why Robertson is not being taken to court. He said: "It seems that the Crown Office have some questions to answer as to why they didn't prosecute what appears to be a straightforward fraud involving a significant amount of money."
ReplyDeleteLabour justice spokesman Richard Baker added: "This is a very serious issue and we should have clarity on why the Crown Office decided not to proceed. "The sum of cash is huge and I'll be interested to know why the lawyers involved haven't faced criminal charges."
=================================
CROWN OFFICE CRIMINALS, SUPPORT LEGAL CORRUPTION BECAUSE THEY ARE LAWYERS. A MOCKERY OF A LEGAL SYSTEM. THE SCRAPINGS OF HUMANITY, LEGAL GANGSTERS.
I TOLD A MEMBER OF STAFF AT HAMILTON SHERRIF COURT THE SYSTEM WAS CORRUPT. HE DISAGREED WITH ME.
I DONT THINK THEY CAN HELP THEMSELVES THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THEY ARE SO LOYAL TO EACH OTHER.
THE PUBLIC HAVE NO FAITH IN THE JUDICIARY, MSP's, AND CONSUMER GROUPS WHO SUPPORT SELF REGULATION.
DID SOME OF THE £221K GO TO CONSUMER FOCUS SCOTLAND?
How can this be when msps MacAskill the Law Society Consumer Focus all say there is robust regulation and we dont need to debate the law allowing lawyers to investigate themselves ?
ReplyDeleteEither Mr Robertson is a crook or all of the above are !
I think the Crown Office should be prosecuted for not prosecuting the legal aid thieves.
ReplyDeleteWho on earth would be daft enough to use a lawyer privately who is also accused of skimming from the legal aid and why have the Law Society allowed them to continue working ?
ReplyDeleteI smell a cover up
"We received a report in relation to two men aged, 60 and 57, in relation to an alleged incident in Paisley in 2008. After full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances, Crown Counsel instructed there should be no proceedings in relation to this matter."
ReplyDelete====================================
Amazing how an LLB can exonerate its holders from justice.
Avoid the following lawyers, accountants, & legal firms, unless you want major problems with your legal business !
ReplyDeleteSolicitors : Andrew Penman & Terrance McNally
Legal Firm : Stormonth Darling Solicitors, Kelso
Address : Bank Of Scotland Buildings, The Square, Kelso, TD5 7HQ Telephone: 01573 224143
Website : http://www.stormonthdarling.co.uk
Solicitor Nigel Hall & others
Legal Firm : Haddon & Turnbill WS,
Address: 55 High St Hawick, TD9 9BP, Tel : 01450 372336
Solicitor William Craib Anderson & other members of staff,
Legal Firm : Charles & RB Anderson WS (Haddon & Turnbull WS, Hawick)
Address : Royal Bank Buildings, 38 High Street, Jedburgh,TD8 6DF
Solicitor : Roderick Urquhart & others
Legal Firm : A & WM Urquhart, Edinburgh
Address : 16 Heriot Row Edinburgh Midlothian EH3 6HR
Website : http://www.urquharts.co.uk
Solicitor : David Sturrock & others
Legal Firm : Turnbull Simpson & Sturrock WS
Address : 26 High Street, Jedburgh, TD8 6AG
Solicitors : Sascha O'Hagan, Catriona Garcia & others
Balfour & Manson Solicitors
Address : 54-66 Frederick Street. Edinburgh
Website : http://www.balfour-manson.co.uk
Solicitor : David Reid
Legal Firm : Alex Morison & Co, Edinburgh
Solicitor : David Reid
Address : 51 Frederick Street Edinburgh Midlothian EH2 1LH
Solicitor : David Reid & others
Legal Firm : Morisons WS, Edinburgh
Address : Erskine House, 68-73 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4NN
Website : http://www.morisonsllp.com
Solicitor : David Reid (now a Law Accountant - more dangerous than ever)
Legal Firm : Campbell Smith WS
Address : 21 York Place , EDINBURGH , EH1 3EN.
Website : http://www.camsmith.co.uk
Solicitor : Michael G Robson
Legal Firm : Robsons WS, (currently not practising)
Ratho, Nr Edinburgh
Accountant : Norman James Howitt CA
Accountancy Firm : Welch & Co Chartered Accountants,
Address : 19 Buccleuch Street Hawick Roxburghshire TD9 0HL. Telephone 01450 372267
Website : http://www.welchca.co.uk
AVOID ALL LAWYERS NOT JUST THE ABOVE IF YOU CAN.
PROFESSIONAL LOYALTY AND CRIMINALITY PROTECT LAWYERS NEVER YOU.
Do these people have standards?
ReplyDeleteConsumer Focus Scotlands's website advises people to go to
ReplyDeleteThe Law Society of Scotland
www.lawscot.org.uk
Scottish Legal Aid Board
www.slab.org.uk
with legal problems. Are they blind?
From the SLAB statement "Where the Board has concerns about the conduct of lawyers or advocates, it can make formal complaints to the appropriate regulatory body (for example, the Law Society of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates or the Legal Complaints Commission) and may also forward cases for consideration to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service."
ReplyDeleteWell the only other case of legal aid being repaid I've heard about was after some lawyer topped himself and the widow had to pay it back (supposedly) anyway I dont believe a word of it because if there were lawyers under arrest for legal aid fraud in courts we would all have heard about it by now.I've heard nothing!
SLAB are as big a band of liars as the Law Society and for anyone who doesnt already know they are right across from the Law Society's building in Edinburgh!
http://www.journalonline.co.uk/Magazine/54-4/1006466.aspx
ReplyDeleteMr Robertson appears to have been taking money from clients while receiving legal aid !
Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal
20 Apr 09
A complaint was made by the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against Iain Robertson, solicitor, 7 Causeyside Street, Paisley (“the respondent”). The Tribunal found the respondent guilty of professional misconduct in respect of his breach of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 by his seeking and accepting a private payment to account from a client of £31,000 when only £11,792.30 was required to cover work done prior to the date of the grant of legal aid, his deliberately rendering invoices to his client and taking payment for these on a private basis despite knowing a legal aid certificate was in place for the same work, namely fees totalling £21,308.52, his accepting private payments to account of outlays from his client totalling £587.50, his charging his client privately twice in relation to outlays totalling £529.41 and his deliberately retaining funds of £2,137.50 from his client to pay the balance of an expert report where the Scottish Legal Aid Board had abated the fee to £800 from £2,937.50, and his failure to provide his client with an adequate explanation in relation to matters, in particular the fees and outlays in relation to legal aid at the outset, in relation to a divorce action.
The Tribunal censured the respondent and fined him the sum of £5,000.
The Tribunal was extremely concerned by the respondent’s conduct. As a result of the respondent’s actions, his client effectively paid private rates for work which was covered by a legal aid certificate. A further advantage was received by the respondent’s firm in that it received payment of these fees earlier than would have been the case if it had had to wait for the Scottish Legal Aid Board to settle these fees. It is important that solicitors only act in matters in which they are competent and it is clearly stated in the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 that a solicitor must not take payment from a client privately when a legal aid certificate is in force. The public are entitled to assume that solicitors will act in their best interests, in terms and in accordance with the law. The Tribunal however accepted that what had happened in this case was due to incompetence rather than anything more sinister. The Tribunal also took account of the fact that the respondent responded immediately to the letter from the Board and in effect repaid the money to his client. The Tribunal was of the view that this appeared to be a one-off incident which happened some time ago. The Tribunal did not consider there was any need to restrict the respondent’s practising certificate but imposed a fine of £5,000 in addition to a censure.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteHow can this be when msps MacAskill the Law Society Consumer Focus all say there is robust regulation and we dont need to debate the law allowing lawyers to investigate themselves ?
IT IS ROBUST, THEY MEAN IT PROTECTS LAWYERS NOT CLIENTS, THAT IS THEIR TAKE ON ROBUSTNESS.
Legal Aid is a racket just look at the problems these so-called Human Rights cases are causing or costing all of us and its really just some lawyer going round the jails to see how much he can milk from the system to fatten his own wallet.Scum by any other name!
ReplyDeleteWhere all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing.
ReplyDeleteHannah Arendt
The message is clear, there is one law for lawyers and another for everyone else.
ReplyDeleteWhere are the crap SLCC to protect us from the likes of these liars?
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many lawyers in Scotland have ever been charged with legal aid fraud?
ReplyDeleteIf its 0 or close to it well we know who is to blame!
my solicitor made me pay him £3000 even though I am on legal aid and he got the form to say no need to make any payements do you think this is right?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteYet another stitch up I assume because if it had been some client who took the money they would have been in court found guilty and probably hanged by now
12 March 2011 15:01
EXACTLY!
Nicola Sturgeon at the SNP conference argued her party was looking after Scotlands interests.
ReplyDeleteWho are you kidding Nicola you SNP's and MSP's would sell any of your constituents down the Clyde for the Law Society and its corrupt membership.
http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/03/crooked-lawyer-one-of-cream-of.html
ReplyDeleteA Crooked Lawyer - one of the 'cream' of the Scottish Legal Profession exposed as a drug runner - and now awaiting a jail term !
What an honour this must be for the Law Society of Scotland, and the reputation of Scottish lawyers everywhere ...... someone from the supposed 'cream' of the Scottish legal profession, found guilty for ... drug running .... and making plenty money at it too it seems ....
Yes folks, this is just another example of just how crooked, low down, and dirty, the Scottish legal profession has become - from running drugs, to threatening clients & ruining their lives, to buying off politicians, and to even apparently ordering murder hits on their own colleagues .... what a bunch ! - use a lawyer ?? we shouldn't touch those people with a barge pole these days - they are a danger & a menace to us all - including their own it seems .... when some of them are suspected of ordering murder hits on their own colleagues .....
All this makes you really wonder just why the Scottish Executive is so hell bent on clamping down on campaign & protest groups against the legal profession, such as Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers, Injustice Scotland ... and the rest .. to stop public critisism of the legal profession ... (example - Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson proclaiming the SACL website to be defamatory and using the Scottish Courts Service to shut it down .... ) kinda .. sinister, wouldn't you say ??? so why would the Government in Scotland be trying to shut up the critics of the Scottish legal profession, which is obviously riddled with so much corruption ? is it, that the Scottish Executive are getting some kind of backhander from the legal mafia to keep things quiet ? or is it something a lot more sinister we are missing maybe even something connected with the likes of the McKie case ? or connected with .. many cases involving crooked lawyers, some of them now promoted to .. .Judges .... do email me with your thoughts !
CATHY JAMIESON WANTED TO SHUT DOWN SCOTLAND AGAINST CROOKED LAWYERS, (THE LOGOS CATHY) FREEDOM OF SPEECH, LET ME TELL YOU A FACT, NO FREEDOM OF SPEECH, NO POLITICS.
THE LAW SOCIETY MAY AS WELL MOVE INTO THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT BECAUSE IT IS THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT.
So - beware of your crooked lawyer - they might just be a murderer, a drug runner, a gun runner, an embezzler, a thief (especially of your money, your house, or a will) ... or just a plain crook .. take your pick .. there are around 10,000 of them to choose from in Scotland .. and plenty more law students up and coming to join their crooked ranks ... and my oh my,
ReplyDeleteI could tell you a thing or two about some of those 'up and coming' law students .. GOOD IDEA PETER, WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR ARTICLE ON THIS.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteLegal Aid is a racket just look at the problems these so-called Human Rights cases are causing or costing all of us and its really just some lawyer going round the jails to see how much he can milk from the system to fatten his own wallet.Scum by any other name!
BUT REMEMBER MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC HAVE NO HUMAN RIGHTS IF THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT A LAWYER, POLITICALLY CLIENTS ARE NOT HUMAN.
WE HAVE A LEGAL SYSTEM AND PARLIAMENT BASED NOT ON JUSTICE, BUT DIFFERENCE. THAT IS WHY LAWYERS ARE SO DANGEROUS.
ReplyDeleteAll this makes you really wonder just why the Scottish Executive is so hell bent on clamping down on campaign & protest groups against the legal profession, such as Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers, Injustice Scotland ... and the rest .. to stop public critisism of the legal profession ... (example - Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson proclaiming the SACL website to be defamatory and using the Scottish Courts Service to shut it down .... ) kinda .. sinister, wouldn't you say
ReplyDeleteWELL CATHY, YOU WANTED TO CURB CRITISISM OF LEGITIMATE DISSENT, I AM NOT CALLING YOU A NAZI, BUT HITLER DID THE SAME.
USING THE LEGAL SYSTEM TO PROTECT ITS PRACTITIONERS IS A CRIMINAL THING TO DO. IT AMOUNTS TO REMOVING RIGHTS OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, (BY ARGUING SACL WERE DEFAMATORY) AND WHEN YOU DO THAT YOU UNDERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELECTED LEADERS AND THEIR CONSTITUENTS, A THING CALLED CITIZENSHIP. HOW DARE YOU AND MAKASKILL IS THE SAME.
YOU TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ANY PRESSURE GROUP YOU ELEVATE WHAT YOU WANT TO CRUSH. YOU ARE NOT TOO BRIGHT ARE YOU.
All this makes you really wonder just why the Scottish Executive is so hell bent on clamping down on campaign & protest groups against the legal profession.
ReplyDelete==================================
In all things legal Peter Scottish dissent would be crushed, but they cannot. No country can claim to be a democracy if it crushes its own citizens right to free speech. That is why Mr Mill talked about the thorns in the legal professions flesh.
He should try being on the client side, he would not want to crush dissent, he would be the loudest mouth on the planet.
Lawyers are pure evil and scum. We would rather be murdered than be silenced.
http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2006/03/my-blog-makes-headlines-in-scottish.html
ReplyDeleteA lawyer hiring a hitman to attack another lawyer .... would be one in the eye for those at the Law Society who, on Friday,opportunistically & viciously turned on aggrieved clients who have started their own websites & protest groups, wanting all such expressions of free speech by those disaffected by the Scottish legal profession 'shut down' on the basis that those 'aggrieved clients' websites & protests are allegedly 'calls for violence' ..... however, it seems the "violence" has probably come from the within legal profession itself ....
LEGAL POWER FAILS WHEN THEY TURN TO VIOLENCE. PROTEST GROUPS ARE THE VOICE OF LAW SOCIETIES COVERUPS. WHY WOULD WE GO TO SUCH LENGTHS. PROTEST GROUPS MUST BE HEARD OR THERE IS NO DEMOCRACY.
EVERY HOUR SOMEONE IS SHOWN WHAT YOU LEGALLY QUALIFIED GARBAGE ARE, SCUM, DEVOID OF RIGHT AND WRONG AND BLIND TO INJUSTICE. CIVIL LAWYERS ARE THE ENEMIES OF ALL DECENT HUMAN BEINGS.
No wonder the Law Society of Scotland is dead against a public register of complaints against solicitors - hide the truth at any cost.
ReplyDeleteOnly a legal dictatorship would attempt to close down dissident websites. They are there because self regulation did not protect them.
ReplyDeleteNo one can sue a lawyer, it is engineered that way. So is trusting them with wills, mortgages, business dealings wise?
This is how the state treat dissidents in Scotland, Cathy Jamiesons "Reforming Complaints Handling, Building Consumer Confidence" was a lie.
Perhaps she would shoot all of us?
"Clearly, Messrs Robertson & Ross must have failed to meet those those “standards of service” which SLAB claim to rigorously enforce, although why the law firm was not charged with criminal offences is yet to be exposed in a scandal which may well rock the Scottish Legal Aid Board, the Crown Office and the Law Society of Scotland."
ReplyDeleteI look forward to hearing about this!
Huh it looks like the newspapers and Peter do a better job of regulating crooked lawyers than the Law Society can manage.
ReplyDeleteI hope Mr Dailly is paying attention to this announcement because he accused SLAB's Chief Executive of saying lawyers cant get their sums right.
ReplyDeleteI'd say Mr Robertson DID NOT get his sums right either if he had to repay £221k!
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeletemy solicitor made me pay him £3000 even though I am on legal aid and he got the form to say no need to make any payements do you think this is right?
13 March 2011 18:47
TELL PETER ABOUT IT BEFORE YOU REPORT THESE CROOKS BECAUSE THE SLCC & LAW SOCIETY WILL DO NOTHING
Why exactly were these lawyers not charged with fraud ?
ReplyDeleteIf you steal from legal aid we are always told its a criminal offence (it says so on the claim form) so why were they not charged or arrested ?
Knife thugs, thieves, drug dealers, paedophiles, rent boy users, this is what you deal with in law firms. Sicko's protected by a sicker parliament, SSDT, Law Society, SLCC.
ReplyDeleteHuman filth no wonder no one of any intelligence trusts them.
If I could rob £221,000.00 from a high street bank and the police caught me and dropped the case I would be a legally protected criminal.
ReplyDeleteThis folks is what lawyers are, steal from the taxpayer, no questions asked, the Crown Office look after their own. Justice and fairness? I think not.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteMy solicitor made me pay him £3000 even though I am on legal aid and he got the form to say no need to make any payments do you think this is right?
----------------------------------
Lawyers police their own, so they can do what they want. Your lawyer is a criminal acting AGAINST you, but the Law society cause client suicides, so they will not care about your lawyer robbing you.
It is not right but who will stop him?
A Solicitor in my fly fishing club told me the legal system in Scotland is totally corrupt. This shocked me, (not what he said) but the fact that he said it.
ReplyDeleteShamed lawyer stays out of court despite admitting £221k of bogus claims
ReplyDeleteJul 18 2010 Exclusive by Derek Alexander, Sunday Mail
A LAWYER has escaped the dock - after handing back more than £200,000 of bogus legal aid claims.
A criminal probe into Iain Robertson has been dropped after he returned £221,847 to the Scottish Legal Aid Board.
Amazingly, Robertson is even allowed to continue claiming legal aid for civil cases while waiting to discover if he will be struck off.
The scandal centred on the 57-year-old shamed solicitor and his firm Robertson & Ross in Paisley.
Another lawyer - Aberdeen-based Alastair Gibb - was also investigated.
Scots Lib Dem justice spokesman Robert Brown demanded to know why Robertson is not being taken to court.
WELL ROBERT, HE CLEARLY HAS FRIENDS IN THE RIGHT PLACES, THAT IS WHY THERE IS NO COURT ACTION.
DEMOCRACY, ALL EQUAL BEFORE THE LAW, B******T.
"I hope your website gets as well known and widely used as it deserves to be.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that after my two years in a legal tussel with my solicitor I've realised we are powerless and there is no justice.