Thursday, March 09, 2006

Major move by the Law Society of Scotland to silence critics in the wake of assault on one of it's top members

Amidst the recriminations over the assault of Leslie Cumming, the Law Society of Scotland and it's allies have moved to condemn aggrieved clients of lawyers in Scotland - and particularly those who have set up websites displaying their case of what their lawyers did to them - in an effort it seems, to get them shut down and block free speech.

The Law Society of Scotland - widely known to be one of the most corrupt regulatory organisations in Scotland - with 1000s of disattisfied clients every year complaining against their member solicitors, has seized the opportunity to try and silence their critics - and of course, the website of Injustice Scotland, Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers, and others, are the targets of these outlandish accusations by people who are serial liars & fraudsters ....

Quoting the Scotsman article :
"Senior figures in the Law Society and the Faculty of Advocates feel some of the websites set up by clients aggrieved by the legal service are tantamount to calls for violence."

so .. it seems that if a client who is disattisfied with the way in which the Law Society of Scotland handles their complaint, against a crooked lawyer (that being - the Law Society let's the crooked lawyer off the hook, and the client looses everything) and airs his opinions in public, this is "calling for violence" ... whereas of course, the solicitor or advocate who ruins their client, steals their money, robs their dead family members assets, fiddles cases, overcharges work, sells a client's house on the cheap to a lawyer colleague or political friend, or puts a client out of their family home ...etc .. is but a saint, and can go on robbing & pillaging people blind as they see fit .. immune from the law and any independent regulation ..... and if we, the client try & do something about it .. well then ... the Law Society of Scotland will envoke all it's friends in Government - such as the Justice Minister, all it's friends in the Police, the Crown Office, and any other public sector .. and will nail you to the cross .... just as has happened to some campaigners over the years .....

Whereas of course, the solicitor or advocate who ruins their client, steals their money, robs their dead family members assets, fiddles cases, puts them out of their family home ...etc .. is but a saint, and can go on robbing people blind as they see fit .. immune from the law and any independent regulation .....

Whatever happened to Mr Cumming, would be certainly nothing to do with any successfully and impartially considered complaint which came to a successful conclusion for a complainant ... so, we will just have to wait and see what revenge tactics the Law Society and it's allies in the media take against those who speak out against how they have been treated by the likes of the Law Society of Scotland ... in a way, similar to what just happened to Fathers 4 Justice - which was shut down, apparently, only on the basis of rumour rather than evidence ... so this must certainly mark the start of a major drive against disattisfied clients & consumer organisations who oppose the crooked Scottish legal profession .... a very dangerous practice indeed and certainly an attempt to shut down our right of free speech when we have been ripped off ....

Read on for the article, from "The Scotsman" newspaper, at :

Hitman may have targeted top legal official, say police
MICHAEL HOWIE

DETECTIVES believe a hitman may have carried out a "cold and calculating" knife attack on a senior law official who was stabbed more than a dozen times outside his home.

Police last night said the assault on Leslie Cumming appeared to have been carefully planned rather than frenzied, revealing that his assailant "walked calmly" away from the 62-year-old after knifing him in the back, face and chest.

They said aspects of the assault, in Edinburgh's affluent Murrayfield district, suggested the attacker may have been a hired hitman.

Senior officials at the Law Society of Scotland are now convinced the attack was connected to Mr Cumming's work as the body's chief accountant.

He was attacked as he returned from work around 5:10pm on Monday. His assailant, who was wearing a balaclava and dark clothes, is thought to have been waiting behind a tree for Mr Cumming to arrive, before plunging a knife into his back as he locked his garage door.

The victim had driven home in his Jaguar car and was about to make the short walk from the garage, which is at the end of a secluded lane, to his back door when the knifeman struck.

Mr Cumming struggled with his attacker and managed to stagger to his door where his shocked wife, Mary, found him slumped against the wall, covered in blood.

Mr Cumming, who on Thursday was able to leave Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he was being treated, told police his assailant calmly walked down the lane after the attack.

Around 8am that day, two schoolgirls saw a man fitting the attacker's description acting suspiciously in the lane. Search teams have scoured the area for clues, but the weapon has not been found.

Detective Inspector Keith Hardie, who is leading the hunt for the knifeman, said: "Mr Cumming has told us the attacker walked calmly down the lane after the assault. Nothing was said. It was a cold and calculated attack and afterwards he just walked down the lane.

"It was serious and vicious but also cold and calculating."

He added: "His evidence has raised the possibility that the attacker was a hitman. That is something we are strongly considering."

DI Harris also revealed that two witnesses have come forward to say they saw a man run down a street adjoining the lane around the time of the assault.

He said: "We have identified a couple of other potential witnesses to a male who was seen running down Ormidale Terrace around the time of the attack.

"That is significant. Hopefully it is the same person who carried out the attack."

Detectives have already interviewed Mr Cumming in hospital and plan to question him further over the next few days. They will be asking him to identify people who may have had a grudge against him as a result of his work.

Police are drawing up a list of lawyers and clients whom Mr Cumming has come into contact with in his role as secretary of the Law Society's Guarantee Fund. The fund investigates allegations of theft by lawyers from clients and provides advice in money laundering cases.

The society's inspection team carries out bi-annual checks of the accounts of Scotland's 1,275 law firms to look for discrepancies, but aggrieved clients have accused the body of failing to expose irregularities.

A legal source said: "We are sure the attack is connected with his work. Everyone in the Law Society is devastated but we cannot see any explanation."

Senior figures in the Law Society and the Faculty of Advocates feel some of the websites set up by clients aggrieved by the legal service are tantamount to calls for violence.

Last year the Scottish Court Service (SCS) moved to shut a website dedicated to exposing corrupt Scottish lawyers.

Cathy Jamieson, justice minister, said the site, operated by lobby group Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers (SACL), was "potentially defamatory", and that SCS officials had contacted the website's internet service provider.

SACL, which claims to have hundreds of members, has run a vocal campaign demanding the Law Society be banned from investigating complaints against solicitors.

Yesterday, the police inquiry team quashed reports that a housebreaker was operating in the Murrayfield area, adding there was "no evidence" to support the claim.

Officers will on Monday increase their presence in Murrayfield, putting up posters and handing out leaflets in the hope that residents who they have not yet spoken to come forward with information.

Mrs Cumming yesterday refused to comment other than to say the family was recovering from the shock of the attack.

She added: "Well, to say it's a shock is an understatement. I'm very shaken."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

not as innocent as people portrayed him at the time and his department had a link to a well known crook.

Did you know Mr Cumming was in charge of complaints on mortgage mis selling ?
His normal route was to deny people a fair hearing against solicitors who had so obviously known what they were doing was not proper or in the best interests of clients.