MSP Jayne Baxter secures relief for constituent in bitter fight over legal fees.THE CASE of a Perth client who has been through an horrific FOUR YEAR ordeal initiated by a Perth based law firm & Scotland’s Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB) over fees claimed to be owed for a personal injury case, has sensationally collapsed after it was revealed this week the client has been officially discharged by the AIB from any alleged debts and that no funds were repaid to either the AIB or the law firm who claimed to be owed the money.
Just days ago, Mr William Gordon, of Perth, was notified by the office of Jayne Baxter MSP, he had been discharged by the AIB in late November 2012 from any alleged debts due to Perth based law firm Kippen Campbell.
The discharge, which frees Mr Gordon from any further claim by his former solicitors, comes after a long running battle over disputed legal fees Kippen Campbell claimed were due to them even though they had withdrawn from acting for their client and left him on the steps of the Court of Session to face a judge, alone, in his personal injury claim.
Notification of the discharge was only provided to Jayne Baxter, Mr Gordon’s MSP, after several requests from Mrs Baxter and her staff to the AIB for copies of the documents and an update on her constituent, Mr Gordon’s position.
Copies of papers received by the MSP and handed to Diary of Injustice appear to show the AIB and it’s agents who acted in the case, Glasgow based accountants Wylie & Bisset, failed to provide Mr Gordon with any notification of his discharge in November of last year. The delay of seven long months in informing Mr Gordon of his discharge, raises serious questions as to why the AIB felt they could keep Mr Gordon in a state of flux for some seven months after the discharge took effect.
It has also been revealed the AIB are refusing to supply Mr Gordon and his MSP with a copy of the actual discharge certificate, citing a rule over fees, despite the fact the entire case has already cost the taxpayer a significant amount of money. Representatives of Mr Gordon who have been helping him through this long ordeal have today told Diary of Injustice they will continue to pursue the AIB for a copy of the actual discharge certificate, given Mr Gordon’s entitlement to a copy and to help establish more details surrounding the AIB’s conduct in this case.
Given the shocking treatment of Mr Gordon in this case, Diary of Injustice feels there must be a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the AIB's conduct towards Mr Gordon and the actions of its agents in the wake of claims no authentic court papers were ever served on Mr Gordon nor was he given the chance to challenge events, due to circumstances of poor health which have been verified by his own doctor to the court on each required occasion.
There are also serious questions over the activities of the AIB’s agents, who attempted to seize the rented house Mr Gordon lives in, and the house of another individual unrelated to Mr Gordon, with a view to scoop the proceeds of the sale of both properties in lieu of the less than three thousand pounds claimed to be owed to the law firm.
The AIB’s move to seize Mr Gordon’s home and a property belonging to someone else, was reported by Scottish Law Reporter and the Herald newspaper, here : Accountant in Bankruptcy agents try to seize wrong house in bankruptcy of disabled client ordered by Perth law firm over disputed legal fees
AIB threatened to seize two properties for a £2.7K debt to solicitors. In letters sent to Mr Gordon, AIB agents Wylie & Bisset demand a “required payment” of NINETY TWO THOUSAND & FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS, and went on to threaten “We require firm proposals for the realisation of the sum in question to your sequestrated estate as a matter of urgency. Should we not receive your proposals within 14 days of the date of this letter, then please be aware that we shall be forced to seek action for vacant possession of the property.”.The second property located in Rattray, Blairgowrie, and owned by a family unconnected to Mr Gordon was valued by AIB agents Wylie & Bisset, at £185,000. However, the debt allegedly owed to Kippen Campbell amounted to little more than £2,700.
Along with the freezing of Mr Gordon’s access to his state disability benefits for seven months – an act on its own which is reprehensible and not acceptable in terms of the law as it stands, nothing short of a full investigation into, and an accounting of the AIB’s activities in this case must take place and be published in the public interest.
How a law firm and bankruptcy regulations were used to hound a disabled client for dodgy fees :
Diary of Injustice initially reported on the long running case of Mr Gordon in December 2009, when it was revealed the then head of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission Jane Irvine was to be cited as a witness at Perth Sheriff Court after it was revealed Kippen Campbell had tried to charge their former client a fee for dealing with complaints.
During October 2010, the case came back into the media spotlight with Kippen Campbell took their case to Perth Sheriff Court in an attempt to pursue Mr Gordon for the fees they claimed to be owed, reported here : Personal injury client dropped by Perth based solicitors Kippen Campbell ‘being hounded’ by court attempts to recover disputed fees
Later in October 2010 it was also revealed by Diary of Injustice that Sally McCartney, a partner at Kippen Campbell and the solicitor at the heart of the case against Mr Gordon had lobbied the Scottish Parliament against independent regulation of solicitors Scottish Parliament documents reveal Perth law firm in complaint fees case campaigned against Holyrood clean-up of regulation of lawyers
In July of 2012, Diary of Injustice featured a further article on the case, revealing Mr Gordon’s now two years of hell could have been avoided if the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission had used their powers on fee nullification in the course of considering Mr Gordon’s complaints against his then solicitors Kippen Campbell.
Material also presented to Diary of Injustice at the time and featured in the report, revealed the private firm of accountants acting on behalf of the Accountant in Bankruptcy, had also frozen access to his disability benefits, here : Solicitors regulator blamed for failure to use powers on fees as accountants seize Disability benefits to pay Perth law firm for collapsed court case
As further enquiries continued into Mr Gordon’s case, an investigation by the media of the Accountant in Bankruptcy’s conduct revealed over £8 million pounds of taxpayers money was being handed on a plate to private firms of accountants by the AIB, reported by Diary of Injustice here : £8 MILLION of YOUR MONEY spent on ‘BULLY BOY’ agents as papers to MSP reveal Accountant in Bankruptcy secretly seize benefits of disabled, trashing lives of Scots on the brink
Good news for once and pleased to see these lawyers didn't get their blood money after leaving Mr Gordon at the court on his own.Well done all!
ReplyDeleteCould only happen in Scotland where it is so bloody obvious the AIB has been set on this poor guy to hound him to death.Disgusting.
ReplyDeleteGiven the shocking treatment of Mr Gordon in this case, Diary of Injustice feels there must be a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the AIB's conduct towards Mr Gordon and the actions of its agents in the wake of claims no authentic court papers were ever served on Mr Gordon nor was he given the chance to challenge events, due to circumstances of poor health which have been verified by his own doctor to the court on each required occasion.
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Yes same happened to my sister and I sympathize with Mr Gordon 100%. We dealt with evil, and so did you Mr Gordon. Thankfully DOI exposed the criminal way the SLCC did nothing to help you. A Hamilton GP stopped my sisters medical certificates and sent her back to a job for the third time. The Employer, lawyer and doctors were all insured by RSA. The NHS wanted it covered up and the Law Society refused to investigate the case but they are insured by RSA too. Oh and another Hamilton GP was the employers Medical Officer working part time in the employers premises. Pure evil you both dealt with. Good on your MSP for helping you, we could get no help anywhere in a litigation coverup which ended in January 2003. Don't try and sue your employer folks or you will end up like Mr Gordon and my sister. Her money was stopped for five months, no benefits, no wages, no help. They are a mafia. Another attempt to starve her out like Mr Gordon, without her family she would have died. Pure evil.
Kippen Campbell and all law firms, Your Employer, Law Society, Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal, Medical Consultants who examine you in litigation cases, NHS Complaints system does not exist, your GP Practice, no complaints system exists for these and what unifies them is the insurance company RSA. So if your injuries need medical reports because they are not visible there is no Health and Safety at work. All these groups pay premiums to the insurer who insures your employer and this is why they string out cases like Mr Gordon's knowing full well he will never get damages, just like my sister. Please remember these four facts.
ReplyDelete1) There is no complaints system in place.
2) They want the Legal Aid money so they take your case on but the medical reports will never create a link between your injury and your employer having caused it.
3) You will never win damages because they pay into the insurance pot you are claiming against.
4) If any lawyer tells you you can sure your employer for non visible injuries that lawyer is a liar. You would be claiming damages from his insurers, as Kippen Campbell and every law firm knows full well. If you try and sue your employer ONLY YOU WILL BE ON YOUR SIDE.
The whole thing seems a bit over the top considering the amount the lawyers were claiming owed to them also since the guy is on benefits and did not own his house how the heck did they expect to get it back doing all this?
ReplyDeleteHope the newspapers pick up on this and go to down on these scumbags.
It sounds as if the parties involved in hounding Mr Gordon mercilessly for several years were all out to make what they thought would be a quick buck.
ReplyDeleteHopefully at some point the Police will become involved and starting asking all those responsible for this disgraceful victimization of a disabled man some very serious questions.
Perhaps the SLCC will begin the process by asking Kippen Campbell to explain themselves in writing, and copy any letter to Mr Gordon.
Notice how the AIB,their accountants came out of this making plenty off the taxpayer yet the victim ends up where? probably denied legal rep for the rest of his life after a lawyer led vendetta.Well that's just rosy isn't it so what is to be done about this and why are lawyers able to dictate the law to innocent victims and get away with it..
ReplyDeleteha - what a fraud the aib are asking £92,500 from someone for a debt of £2,700 and going after the houses to get it.What was going to happen to the rest of the money? Disappear into their back pockets and the houses end up owned by lawyers probably.
ReplyDeleteMSP Jayne Baxter secures relief for constituent in bitter fight over legal fees.
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Good on you Mrs Baxter, nice to see an MSP helping their constituent against one of the most evil factions in contemporary society.
Oh well obviously the aib and friends had it in for Mr Gordon from the very start.Of course it couldn't be anything to do with strings being pulled as in favours to another untrustworthy profession we all know to avoid!
ReplyDeleteThis report and the previous reports on this case of Mr Gordon's horrific treatment screams stay away from lawyers and accountants. They are evil people.
ReplyDeleteThere are also serious questions over the activities of the AIB’s agents, who attempted to seize the rented house Mr Gordon lives in, and the house of another individual unrelated to Mr Gordon, with a view to scoop the proceeds of the sale of both properties in lieu of the less than three thousand pounds claimed to be owed to the law firm.
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A mafia using what I call bureaucratic terrorism against innocent people caught up the the messy unregulated world of so called self regulation. This crime allows these evil creeps to torture for profit. They will always cover up people's injuries [that is their real job]. The employer injures you and them the legal, medical and accountancy mafia injure you again and then torture you for fees. We learned the hard way and you will all learn too if you ignore our advice, where possible stay away from them.
They will be doing this to other people right now, who will stop them?
ReplyDeleteConsidering there are thousands of people a year being sequestrated this story should be in a paper at the very least.What is it with the press these days we all have to read and rely on the internet to get real news affecting everyone and a story like this could target anyone especially because no one has any money or savings left thanks to the banks and their partners in crime
ReplyDeleteScottish lawyers are a team who repudiate ruined clients and this is why self regulation is critical to them. It is their passport to money by ruining clients lives and then being rewarded with no penalties for doing so.
ReplyDeleteYour current lawyer will have been reported many times before. Their Law Society just say to their lawyers, well there is another fine mess we have kept you out of. Go to work and ruin a few more clients.
Myself and my colleagues have been following this carnage of a defenceless person since the start which resembles a fictional character in a best seller, but its not is it, its a real life situation brought about by a sheriff court in Perth where the clerks operate their own wee justice system out with the everyday running of valid court processes.
ReplyDeleteIt is like AIB as a pack of hounds chasing Mr Gordon on the direction of the Hunt-master Kippen Campbell, and their Court colleagues. If the latter two were honest they would have said, no law firm should sue your employer on your behalf Mr Gordon because we all have a conflict of interest in terms of getting you damages. We all pay into the same insurance pot of gold. Glad the MSP called off the hounds and the hunt-master has lost.
ReplyDeleteHave the Public Petition Committee been sent to Coventry?
ReplyDeleteGuess what the Public Petitions Committee are having for their lunch for the foreseeable future?
ReplyDeleteCold-shoulder?