Monday, March 04, 2013

IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST : Questions over solicitors self-regulation after Crown Office abandoned prosecution of £500k fraud accused lawyer now struck off for theft of client funds

Lord Advocate & Crown OfficeScot-Free? Lord Advocate is letting crooked lawyers off the hook say politicians. THE COLLAPSE of an earlier criminal prosecution led by Scotland’s top Law Officer Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland of a Carnoustie based lawyer recently struck off by the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) for stealing clients cash including the theft of assets from deceased clients estates, has been called into question by politicians reports the Sunday Mail newspaper.

As the numbers of ‘failed’ criminal prosecutions of solicitors for taking clients funds, or in other cases, millions of pounds of taxpayer funded legal aid, reaches an all time high, concerns are being expressed the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), and Lord Advocate are not applying the law evenly to all, especially when it comes to cases involving crooks in Scotland’s legal profession.

In this latest case, reported in the Sunday Mail newspaper, solicitor Walter Ruark, a former Rotary Club President and church elder used cash to finance loans to other clients and stole cash to pay to another client before "falsifying records to conceal his dishonesty". Also, in a now common fraud typical of many Scottish solicitors who wind up of executries & wills, it was discovered Ruark twice took funds from the estates of deceased clients and falsified ledger entries to cover his tracks.

Walter Ruark was also accused of a £500,000 fraud was accused along with ex-policeman Owen Hughes. Both appeared at Arbroath Sheriff Court in November 2011 yet the case dropped a year later when the Lord Advocate who led the case himself, abandoned the prosecution.

The SSDT findings & report can be viewed online here : Council of the Law Society of Scotland v Walter Forbes Ruark or at the SSDT’s own website here : 1586_Ruark_WF

The SSDT’s Judgement states : The Tribunal having considered the Complaint dated 20 April 2012 at the instance of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland against Walter Forbes Ruark, Solicitor, 42 Ireland Street, Carnoustie; Find the Respondent guilty of Professional Misconduct in respect of

(1) his failure to maintain accurate and adequate records to show his dealings with client monies and to identify the funds of each individual client, and his failure to obtain authority for payment of client funds to the benefit of other clients; (2) his use of clients’ funds for the benefit of other clients without appropriate authority and his falsifying of records to hide these misappropriations; (3) his having a deficit on his client account; (4) his failure to account for the funds to the executry of the late Mr VV; (5) his repeated delay and/or failure to register or record timeously dispositions, standard securities and discharges whereby the lenders remained unsecured for the funds advanced and clients remained uninfeft; (6) his failure to comply with the terms of the Money Laundering Regulations; (7) his use of funds entrusted to him by lenders and his failure to discharge existing securities for properties re-mortgaged resulting in a loss to the lenders and a claim on the indemnity insurance; (8) his rendering fee notes for work which had not been undertaken; (9) his failure to obtemper a letter of obligation; (10) his failure to respond to correspondence from fellow solicitors and his knowingly misleading fellow solicitors (11) his repeated and numerous failures to respond to the Complainers; and (12) his breach of Rules 4, 6, 8 and 24 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Accounts etc Rules 2001;

March 3rd 2013 Sunday Mail  webDisgrace, Dishonour, Dishonesty .. but case DISMISSED

Charges dropped on £500K fraud rap lawyer

By Russell Findlay Sunday Mail 03 March 2013

Politicians have demanded to know why the Crown dropped a prosecution against a £500,000 fraud rap lawyer. Walter Ruark, 62, has now been struck off by the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal, who branded him a danger to the public for stealing clients cash. Ruark was arrested, charged and appeared in court but the Crown Office - led by Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland - abandoned the case.

Ruark's former partners in Carnoustie based Gourlay McBain raised the alarm in 2008 but it took five years for him to be banned from the profession. His actions sparked a £666,000 insurance pay out to clients but the Crown did not launch a proceeds of crime case against him.

Labour Justice spokesman Lewis Macdonald said : "The Crown have questions to answer. I believe the Government have not resourced them well enough to pursue every case."But in a case of this kind, there's a public interest in an allegedly fraudulent lawyer being brought to book and not just dealt with by the legal profession. Five years is an inordinately long time."

Labour MP for Central Ayrshire Brian Donohoe said: "The Crown have dropped this case with no explanation and they need to provide one. If what the SSDT are saying is true, he should be in jail, not just drummed out of the Brownies. An independent body is needed to oversee lawyers in the same way doctors are monitored by the General Medical Council. There needs to be a root and branch reform of the legal profession and an end to self-regulation."

Ruark was president of Carnoustie Rotary Club and an elder at the town's Panbride Church. He remained involved with the Rotary Club while facing the probe but has now quit. He and ex-policeman Owen Hughes, 33, appeared at Arbroath Sheriff Court in November 2011 accused of a £500,000 fraud. The case was dropped a year later.

Last week's SSDT report stated "In this case the Respondent [Ruark] misappropriated clients' funds on a number of occasions and also falsified records to hide his dishonesty."The tribunal considered his conduct disgraceful and dishonourable. His conduct was persistent and spanned a long period of time." His dishonest acts taken to cover his behaviour, his lack of response to correspondence and the repeated nature of his conduct disclosed a lack of remorse."His actions presented a clear danger to the public and will inevitably tarnish the good reputation of the profession."

In 2007, a sheriff branded Ruark an unreliable witness when his firm were successfully sued by a client over a botched land deal. Ruark's former partner Alex Small said: "I don't want to say any more than the SSDT report speaks for itself. Only the Crown Office can answer why they took that decision."

The Crown Office said: "It is our duty to keep cases under review and after full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case. Crown counsel instructed that there be no further proceedings in relation to this matter. The standard of proof for a criminal prosecution is substantially higher than that required for civil proceedings and tribunals."

LORD ADVOCATE & CROWN OFFICE FIDDLE AS CROOKED LAWYERS ESCAPE JUSTICE

Given the now sizeable number of cases where Scotland’s unfit-for-purpose Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) have failed to prosecute solicitors on charges of financial wrongdoing with clients money, and even larger frauds involving millions of pounds of legal aid, there is a clear concern Scotland’s prosecutors are operating a policy of avoiding criminal prosecutions of members of Scotland’s legal profession.

NO CASE TO ANSWER Sunday Mail 17 July 2011Legal Aid Fraud riddle as Crown Office fail to prosecute lawyers in 14 cases. In a series of reports, Diary of Injustice and the Sunday Mail newspaper revealed a host of cases where Scotland’s Crown Office refused to prosecute solicitors even though significant evidence of legal aid fraud had been handed over to prosecutors by the Scottish Legal Aid Board.

The revelations came as a result of an investigation backed up by Freedom of Information requests, reported in more detail by Diary of Injustice here : FOURTEEN lawyers accused of multi-million pound legal aid fraud escape justice as Scotland’s Crown Office fail to prosecute all cases in 5 years

In another case, it was also revealed Thomas Hugh Murray, a Scottish lawyer now based in Lucca, Italy, who is still being chased by the Law Society of Scotland, also escaped a criminal prosecution after Stirling’s Procurator Fiscal Office told the victim “A decision was taken by the Crown Office to take no further proceedings in this case: this decision was not taken lightly as we realise the seriousness of this crime.”

Diary of Injustice reported on the Murray case in more detail and published a copy of the Crown Office letter confirming no prosecution yet referring to ‘the seriousness of the crime’, here : NO JUSTICE for clients as Crown Office & Law Society ‘cosy deal’ allowed FRAUD accused lawyer to slip criminal prosecution & move to Lucca, Italy

66 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gasp!
Suffice to say :

The Lord Advocate should be sacked.Self explanatory.

The Crown Office as we know it should be disbanded.It is rotten to the core.Same goes for the Legal Aid Board.

The Law Society of Scotland should play no further part in regulation of lawyers.You all know why.

Lawyers should face the full weight of the law when they do harm to clients.I think Peter may just be the man to consult on this!

Anonymous said...

Glad to see at last that at least one Labour MSP, namely the MP for Central Ayrshire Brian Donohoe, has put his head above the paraphet
and said on record that self regulation must end - I wonder how long it will be before he is called to heel by the law society, or indeed the Scottish labour party?

Anonymous said...

Is it true that Scotland is about to be inundated with crooks from Eastern Europe?

The suggestion is that hundreds of thousands of applications from Romania & Bulgaria are about to be sent into Scottish Universities to enrol for Law Degrees?

The thought is that they have deduced that there exists a loophole in Scotland where they can come here to commit crimes and get away with it, safe in the knowledge that they would be saved from prosecution and considered by the State to automatically have characters above reproach?

To simply get a law degree and become a Scottish lawyer?

Uşor de bani?

Anonymous said...

One law for them and another for us!

Anonymous said...

"His actions presented a clear danger to the public and will inevitably tarnish the good reputation of the profession."

Not any more than the profession is already tarnished due to the fact most lawyers have something to hide and the public would be better not to trust any of them including this corrupt ssdt

In fact thinking about it now they probably threw Ruark to the dogs knowing he wouldnt be prosecuted and just to say they did something and this falls into line with what I now think which is the judges are in on the decisions to let bent lawyers off the hook or drop charges.If you all think about it this is now the only explanation for these years,decades where the courts let off lawyers because they are their own brethren.

Anonymous said...

Clearly the Crown Office are operating a policy to protect the legal profession.

Anonymous said...

Too many crooks in the profession getting away with these kinds of things http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7006811.stm

Farm sale blunder costs law firm

David Hay was "shocked and embarrassed" when it emerged he had mistakenly sold some of his neighbour's land in 2002.

The 74-year-old former consultant physician was forced to pay the new owner of Lawton Farms near Inverkeillor in Angus £30,000 for the error.

He sued law firm Gourley McBain, who handled the sale, for breach of contract and professional negligence.

Dr Hay argued he had told Walter Ruark, a partner at Gourley McBain, that the strip of land concerned did not belong to him and had asked him to rework the plans to show the correct boundary.

However, the sale had gone ahead with the plans unchanged.

Gourley McBain, which is based in Carnoustie, claimed Dr Hay was fully of aware of the extent of land being sold.

That was rejected by Sheriff Noel McPartlin who heard the case at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and agreed that the solicitors had been negligent.

Dr Hay had inherited Lawton Farms from an uncle in 1988 and later discovered some land bordering the Lunan Water, which had historically been considered part of the estate, actually belonged to the neighbouring Millfield Farm.

The land owner agreed to allow Dr Hay access to the area in order to irrigate the potato farm.

When Dr Hay moved to sell the farm in 2002, the title deeds were drawn up to include the strip of land in the Lawton Farms estate.

The sheriff found Gourley McBain had repeatedly failed to comply with Dr Hay's instructions and ordered the law firm to pay him more than £34,000 compensation and legal fees.

Sheriff McPartlin said he found Dr Hay, who spent his medical career in Canada before moving to St Andrews in 1990, to be "an intelligent man of the utmost integrity".

He said: "It was quite clear that [Dr Hay] was shocked by the way in which [Gourley McBain] had let him down, as he saw it, and embarrassed that the impression might be given that he was trying to sell land which he did not really own."

Sheriff McPartlin added that Mr Ruark had tried to distance himself from any involvement with the plans relating to the transaction, and was not a reliable witness.

Anonymous said...

an interesting part of the SSDT's report goes on about them being told there would no longer be criminal proceedings against Ruark.This was obviously said in mitigation and to try to keep him in the profession.THe thing is because of the way the Lord Advocate lets all these bent lawyers off the hook with thieving I wonder if this was all prearranged.You just cannot trust the system at all and this SSDT is just as bad as the Crown Office for letting their colleagues away with a slap on the wrist - I've seen many similar stories on your blog and in the newspaper before.Actually you have educated me a lot about the legal system and how to deal with lawyers (and how to stay away from them!)

Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like its better dying without a will than with one!At least you get to spend your own money or hand it out to people you want to have it before the thieving members of the Law Society get their filthy mits on it!

Anonymous said...

Someone will be making a lot of money out of not prosecuting these corrupt lawyers - its always the same and always comes back to money.Maybe there are bribes going back and forth between them all or job favours or family connections but you can be sure someone is gaining a lot.

Anonymous said...

Funny how always when a lawyer is charged with a big fraud the case goes awol..

Anonymous said...

Obviously Ruark has been thrown to the dogs so the SSDT & Law Society can brag they know how to regulate but they didn't factor into the equation the newspaper running it alongside the suspiciously dropped criminal charges which puts an entirely different light on matters.Anyway why is this guy not being charged and prosecuted?It says he stole the money so why no criminal prosecution or has Mulholland redefined theft on his own?

Anonymous said...

5 March 2013 00:01

Actually you may not realise how accurate your statement is.

The LSoS prefer admitting Europeans to the profession in Scotland over those from England.

I believe its got something to do with how certain people can be 'controlled'

Apparently the SLCC operates much the same.

Anonymous said...

I realy am shocked by some of the comments above.

Surely by now regular readers of the Diary of Injustice recognize that theft, when the terms is applied to a member of the legal profession, has been deemed to be 'borrowing without consent' by Scottish Courts.

Now really you lot, do come along!

Anonymous said...

The Crown Office said: "It is our duty to keep cases under review and after full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case. Crown counsel instructed that there be no further proceedings in relation to this matter. The standard of proof for a criminal prosecution is substantially higher than that required for civil proceedings and tribunals."

This is a bit of a tired explanation surely?

How about the 14 legal aid robbers you couldn't get enough evidence to prosecute and they just all happened to be liwyers!

Anonymous said...

Semple Fraser are going bust apparently because there are not enough gullible idiots going through their doors to generate work..
Hopefully a few more firms will follow the same trend as people being to wise up and read sites like this about the horrors they can expect from Scotland's legal profession!

Anonymous said...

How many other wills are being ripped off on a daily basis?Probably millions each day across the whole country and they get away with a slap on the wrist via their buddies when really they should be rotting in jail!

Anonymous said...

I read the story in the Sunday Mail and have an interest here because I am in the same boat as Ruark's clients who ended up having their money stolen.The story goes something like this .
My father died in 2004 and his solicitor wrote to me asking if I wanted to be the sole executor.I wrote back and agreed to this but the next day I received another letter from my late father's solicitor telling he had appointed himself as sole executor and would be in touch.Nothing more happaned until late 2005 when I received another letter from the solicitor saying he would be in touch shortly and then in late 2006 a similar letter with the added paragraph of an apology and saying he had some difficulties in gathering up my late father's assets including his house.I telephoned the solicitor and asked him what the problems were and he said the bank had been to blame for withholding bank accounts and information.Sometime in June 2008 I went round to my father's house which had been empty since he died and found the locks changed and someone living in it even though the house and its contents had been left to me as the only son.I went round personally to the solicitor's office and was told by his secretary to wait and he would see me in 15 minutes because he had someone with him.About half an hour waiting two Policemen came into the waiting room with the secretary who looked like she was crying and she pointed to me saying I had caused a scene and asked I be taken away.The other person in the waiting room I was sitting next to had been there longer than me. She stood up for me and said nothing happened but the Police warned her if she intervened she would be arrested too.They took me outside the building without saying a word and left me standing on the pavement and drove off.I complained to the local Inspector about this and he told me he would look into it.Nothing happened and no Police have ever been near me again.I made a complaint to the Law Society of Scotland and nothing has happened although a week after I complained to the Law Society the person living in my late father's house disappeared and the house is empty again.I have been round to the bank explained everything to the manager and he told me my father's bank accounts were emptied the week after he died and told me unofficially the house has been used as collateral for a loan but he couldn't say who because of confidentiality but trust me it is the solicitor .The Law Society are trying to cover it all up and this solicitor is still in business.If you can suggest to me what I can do to get this published I would be very grateful for any help.

Diary of Injustice said...

# Anonymous @ 6 March 2013 16:44

Please send more details on your case along with copies of the correspondence from your solicitor to scottishlawreporters@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

6 March 2013 16:44

Join the queue of wills and people ripped off by lawyers!

As I have said before it is just as well someone distributing their things before they die rather than leave a will and let the lawyer drain it away for themselves.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Someone will be making a lot of money out of not prosecuting these corrupt lawyers - its always the same and always comes back to money.Maybe there are bribes going back and forth between them all or job favours or family connections but you can be sure someone is gaining a lot.

5 March 2013 16:57

YES THE LAWYERS ARE GAINING MONEY OUT OF NOT PROSECUTING THEIR OWN LAWYERS!

Anonymous said...


Anonymous said...
I read the story in the Sunday Mail and have an interest here because I am in the same boat as Ruark's clients who ended up having their money stolen.The story goes something like this .
My father died in 2004 and his solicitor wrote to me asking if I wanted to be the sole executor.I wrote back and agreed to this but the next day I received another letter from my late father's solicitor telling he had appointed himself as sole executor and would be in touch.Nothing more happaned until late 2005 when I received another letter from the solicitor saying he would be in touch shortly and then in late 2006 a similar letter with the added paragraph of an apology and saying he had some difficulties in gathering up my late father's assets including his house.I telephoned the solicitor and asked him what the problems were and he said the bank had been to blame for withholding bank accounts and information.Sometime in June 2008 I went round to my father's house which had been empty since he died and found the locks changed and someone living in it even though the house and its contents had been left to me as the only son.I went round personally to the solicitor's office and was told by his secretary to wait and he would see me in 15 minutes because he had someone with him.About half an hour waiting two Policemen came into the waiting room with the secretary who looked like she was crying and she pointed to me saying I had caused a scene and asked I be taken away.The other person in the waiting room I was sitting next to had been there longer than me. She stood up for me and said nothing happened but the Police warned her if she intervened she would be arrested too.They took me outside the building without saying a word and left me standing on the pavement and drove off.I complained to the local Inspector about this and he told me he would look into it.Nothing happened and no Police have ever been near me again.I made a complaint to the Law Society of Scotland and nothing has happened although a week after I complained to the Law Society the person living in my late father's house disappeared and the house is empty again.I have been round to the bank explained everything to the manager and he told me my father's bank accounts were emptied the week after he died and told me unofficially the house has been used as collateral for a loan but he couldn't say who because of confidentiality but trust me it is the solicitor .The Law Society are trying to cover it all up and this solicitor is still in business.If you can suggest to me what I can do to get this published I would be very grateful for any help.

6 March 2013 16:44
-----------------------------

I am sorry friend but welcome to the REAL Scotland where the country's Crown Office and the Law Society of Scotland are corrupt as Hell and where there operates Legal Apartheid?

Post your full story with the DOI Team and prepare for it to be added to the long list of criminality passed off as normal in Scotland?

Your father's lawyer could do what he has done because there is almost zero incentive for him not to be a criminal in the regime run by the Law Society of Scotland?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
The Crown Office said: "It is our duty to keep cases under review and after full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case. Crown counsel instructed that there be no further proceedings in relation to this matter. The standard of proof for a criminal prosecution is substantially higher than that required for civil proceedings and tribunals."

This is a bit of a tired explanation surely?

How about the 14 legal aid robbers you couldn't get enough evidence to prosecute and they just all happened to be liwyers!

6 March 2013 11:12

sssssssssssssssssssssss

I will translate this Crown Office statement through my new App called The Truth Filter App.....?

The Crown Office said: "It is our choice to select cases where it is clear that a crooked Scottish lawyer has been caught red-handed and to pretend to the Scottish Public that we have not enough evidence to convict, when we know full well that there is plenty of corroboratory evidence to send them to jail but as we operate a Legal Apartheid system in Scotland, we can and will do as we please. Plebs."

Wow....this really works.......well worth the £0.69?

I may use this again?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Obviously Ruark has been thrown to the dogs so the SSDT & Law Society can brag they know how to regulate but they didn't factor into the equation the newspaper running it alongside the suspiciously dropped criminal charges which puts an entirely different light on matters.Anyway why is this guy not being charged and prosecuted?It says he stole the money so why no criminal prosecution or has Mulholland redefined theft on his own?


5 March 2013 21:52
------------------------------

This is the way it works......

When the crooked Scottish solicitor is caught committing crime it entirely depends upon how vociferous the victim is in insisting the police investigate, which usually involves pressure from the DOI Team or the Sunday Mail...?

The more heat on them the bigger the chance they will follow through with a prosecution, however there are a few caveats?

If the crooked Scottish lawyer has crossed the Law Society of Scotland or is an enemy of them or has 'dirt' on them, then they will be thrown to the lions?

If the crooked Scottish lawyer is a pal of the Law Society of Scotland or can be depended upon to be willing to pay the favour back to be called-in by the Law Society of Scotland later, to commit or conceal crime, then you have ZERO chance of getting the crooked Scottish lawyer to be dealt with properly?

Anonymous said...

This Police involvement in people making complaints against lawyers is very sinister when I read comments like the one today where the Police took the man out of the office presumably on orders of the crooked lawyer and then dumped him on the street without an explanation.Who is paying for all this and why has there been no explanation for what happened here?
Why is this lawyer still in business and why did the bank just lend out money to someone using a dead person's house which has been left to their family?
Probably the bank is making plenty on this too so sooner this is in the papers the better because it will bring out other cases where the same is happening.Good on DOI for allowing people to tell their problems of dealing with lawyers and how rotten they really are!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
an interesting part of the SSDT's report goes on about them being told there would no longer be criminal proceedings against Ruark.This was obviously said in mitigation and to try to keep him in the profession.THe thing is because of the way the Lord Advocate lets all these bent lawyers off the hook with thieving I wonder if this was all prearranged.You just cannot trust the system at all and this SSDT is just as bad as the Crown Office for letting their colleagues away with a slap on the wrist - I've seen many similar stories on your blog and in the newspaper before.Actually you have educated me a lot about the legal system and how to deal with lawyers (and how to stay away from them!)

Keep up the good work!


5 March 2013 13:30
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

Do you not know that the Law Society of Scotland regularly defeat the ends of justice by cutting deals with the Crown Office for them NOT to prosecute their member under the false premise that the Law Society of Scotland will deal with the crooked Scottish lawyer 'in-house'?

But of course, the Law Society of Scotland have their loyal hatchet men in the guises of the SSDT & the SLCC who they get to give the crooked Scottish lawyer the lightest sanction possible to ultimately let them off the hook, whilst at the same time humiliating the poor victim of the crooked Scottish lawyer and to make it look like the Law Society of Scotland were not involved?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"His actions presented a clear danger to the public and will inevitably tarnish the good reputation of the profession."

Not any more than the profession is already tarnished due to the fact most lawyers have something to hide and the public would be better not to trust any of them including this corrupt ssdt

In fact thinking about it now they probably threw Ruark to the dogs knowing he wouldnt be prosecuted and just to say they did something and this falls into line with what I now think which is the judges are in on the decisions to let bent lawyers off the hook or drop charges.If you all think about it this is now the only explanation for these years,decades where the courts let off lawyers because they are their own brethren.

5 March 2013 07:56
sssssssssssshhiittttttttt

"His actions presented a clear danger to the public and will inevitably tarnish the good reputation of the profession."

Using The Truth App again......'His actions showed a demonic hatred of the Scottish Public and by showing such a level of misconduct consistent with an upstanding member of the Law Society of Scotland, we commend him highly'?

Anonymous said...

If anything Mulholland's refusal to prosecute the lawyer and the Police Officer will just reinforce people's beliefs the whole system is rigged in favour of lawyers and those in authority.

By refusing to prosecute the likes of lawyers in case after case especially with regard to the legal aid frauds the Crown Office clearly demonstrates it is protecting the legal profession from the full weight of the law and these 14 cases and the others are just the tip of the iceberg.

Actually I would like to ask a question - How many cases say over the past 10 years do you think lawyers have escaped criminal charges?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Semple Fraser are going bust apparently because there are not enough gullible idiots going through their doors to generate work..
Hopefully a few more firms will follow the same trend as people being to wise up and read sites like this about the horrors they can expect from Scotland's legal profession!

6 March 2013 13:14

Not being one to gloat over the loss of jobs (because it will be the lower end staff who end up worse off,not the partners) isnt it about time some of these law firms clean up their image by doing right for their clients instead of constantly ripping everyone off?

Surely this instinctive steal first act later policy has had its day and it is now time to put right all the wrongs this lot have inflicted on people over the years?

Also cant imagine people will be persuaded to go back to using lawyers after reading this blog so how about an effort to make amends to everyone?If they want the business back they will have to go down this route otherwise more firms are going under and you know what?no one will give a bloody damn about lawyers going broke!

Anonymous said...

Did the phrase Scot-Free originate in Scotland, where Scottish crooked lawyers are always spared from justice?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Sounds like its better dying without a will than with one!At least you get to spend your own money or hand it out to people you want to have it before the thieving members of the Law Society get their filthy mits on it!

5 March 2013 14:05
ccccccccccccccccccccp

Crooked Scottish lawyers see their client victims as CASH TREES, to be constantly pruned of £50 notes for their own self-enrichment and criminal careers?

Anonymous said...

Well done to the DOI Team and the Sunday Mail for exposing the Crown Office & Law Society of Scotland's criminality?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
One law for them and another for us!

5 March 2013 00:41
ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZz

Have you ever heard the motto of the infamous Scottish legal musketeers? (The Law Society, the SLCC & the SSDT)

'All for us and none for youse'?

Anonymous said...

Must admit I enjoy reading the Sunday Mail with this kind of news in it.go for it guys!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
How many other wills are being ripped off on a daily basis?Probably millions each day across the whole country and they get away with a slap on the wrist via their buddies when really they should be rotting in jail!

6 March 2013 14:13
_____________________

Is it true that the word Will was coined in Scotland by the Law Society of Scotland, where they called it this because after a Scottish lawyers client entrusted them to look after their estate, the Scottish lawyer willed his client to die, so that he could get his dirty mots on his poor clients hard earned estate?

Anonymous said...

Rotten to the core the lot of them and I dont trust the Lord Advocate or the Police now from what I've read tonight!

Anonymous said...

Scot-Free? Lord Advocate is letting crooked lawyers off the hook say politicians. Jail Mullholland.

Anonymous said...

Scot-Free? Lord Advocate is letting crooked lawyers off the hook say politicians. He engineers the outcome he wants eh Frank.

Anonymous said...

Questions over solicitors [self-protection] after Crown Office abandoned prosecution of £500k fraud accused lawyer now struck off for theft of client funds.

They are simply corrupt. Scottish lawyers are a mockery, unfit to be part of a legal system. Where is the deterrent?

Anonymous said...

Scot-Free? Lord Advocate is letting crooked lawyers off the hook say politicians.

This is the result of them looking after their own interest. The Lord Advocate should be sacked as he is not fit to be in his job.

Anonymous said...

Solicitors self-regulation is a crime.

Anonymous said...

Every sympathy for the man who was dragged out of the lawyers office by the Police!This does not surprise me one bit and do you know why?Well I have often heard Police become too friendly with lawyers and end up doing each other favours.Too much at stake and lots of money involved again.Hope you investigate more!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
If anything Mulholland's refusal to prosecute the lawyer and the Police Officer will just reinforce people's beliefs the whole system is rigged in favour of lawyers and those in authority.

By refusing to prosecute the likes of lawyers in case after case especially with regard to the legal aid frauds the Crown Office clearly demonstrates it is protecting the legal profession from the full weight of the law and these 14 cases and the others are just the tip of the iceberg.

Actually I would like to ask a question - How many cases say over the past 10 years do you think lawyers have escaped criminal charges?

6 March 2013 20:08
wwwwwwwweeeeeeeee

How this creep is still in a job beggars belief?

If there is say 10 crooked Scottish lawyers being let off Scot-Free a week (which is a VERY conservative figure) then this would mean there would be conservatively in excess of 500 arch criminal Scottish lawyers a year who are at large?

When you consider that (according to the Crown Office's own figures) 450 crimes where someone has been charged/arrested are NOT prosecuted EVERY DAY, then you can only imagine how many crooked Scottish lawyers are hidden amongst this number to let them off under their famous lie that, 'there was insufficient corroboratory evidence to achieve a conviction'?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Semple Fraser are going bust apparently because there are not enough gullible idiots going through their doors to generate work..
Hopefully a few more firms will follow the same trend as people being to wise up and read sites like this about the horrors they can expect from Scotland's legal profession!

6 March 2013 13:14

Not being one to gloat over the loss of jobs (because it will be the lower end staff who end up worse off,not the partners) isnt it about time some of these law firms clean up their image by doing right for their clients instead of constantly ripping everyone off?

Surely this instinctive steal first act later policy has had its day and it is now time to put right all the wrongs this lot have inflicted on people over the years?

Also cant imagine people will be persuaded to go back to using lawyers after reading this blog so how about an effort to make amends to everyone?If they want the business back they will have to go down this route otherwise more firms are going under and you know what?no one will give a bloody damn about lawyers going broke!

6 March 2013 20:56
:;:;:;:;:;:;:,:,:,:,:,:,:,:,:,:,:,:,

You are missing the point?

This tyrannical lot will just keep on going robbing their clients blind because they have been allowed to do so for so long that they know nothing else?

They are drunk on the blood of the Scottish People's hard earned cash and will speed straight towards their inevitable car crash so desperate are they in their dark pursuit of greedy free money?

The Law Society of Scotland have artificially created the environment in which their crooked members thrive by failing to properly regulate their members and by allowing there members to break the law with impunity safe in the knowledge that they will not suffer the long arm of the law?

They have chosen the get-rich-quick greedy path straight to Hell as their modus operandi and will happily go grinning down into the fiery pit of Hell before they will learn to do the right thing and mend their ways?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Rotten to the core the lot of them and I dont trust the Lord Advocate or the Police now from what I've read tonight!

6 March 2013 22:30
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Be thankful for the Public Servant Journalists in the DOI Team, who do their courageous and selfless work on behalf of us all?

Where would we be without all of these good guys?

Think about that for a minute?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Rotten to the core the lot of them and I dont trust the Lord Advocate or the Police now from what I've read tonight!

6 March 2013 22:30
££££££££££££££££££

You've forgotten the worst culprit of all in terms of it's commitment to subverting the course of justice and full-scale criminality?

THE LAW SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND?

Anonymous said...

Interesting stuff and that letter from the Crown Office to the victim telling them no prosecution even though the lawyer committed a crime.. no justice in Scotland when lawyers can get away with this kind of stuff and little wonder people are staying the hell away from them!

Anonymous said...

What do things start with? Someone has an idea. If the idea spreads it slowly becomes a force, an ideology. One day and it is transitional now the public will no longer trust the judiciary and this is profoundly serious. Don't wait till this happens lawyers, wake up Lord Gill. Remove the dirt in your ranks. If you do not you will all become dirt.

Anonymous said...

Besides the poll tax, the last time Scotland saw such a regressive housing tax on the low paid and poor, was back in 1748 when you were taxed on the number of windows your house had. The phrase ‘day-light robbery’ was coined, and people bricked up their windows to escape it. Sadly, escaping the regressive bedroom tax won’t be so easy.

Where will people in homes with an ‘extra room’ go when there is insufficient capacity in the social rented sector?


How will people and families cope with being evicted as they will be unable to pay their rent due to the bedroom tax?

Where will people find the money to make up bedroom tax rent arrears - payday loans, high interest home credit or money lenders?

Evil.

Anonymous said...

A rare event indeed.

An Edinburgh lawyer who betrayed his profession by helping a multi-million pound fraudster has been jailed for four years.

Richard Housley, 57, was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh along with book-keeper Caroline Laing, 55, who was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
=================================
Many more get off and also the 14 for Legal Aid fraud. I still stay there is no complaints system for clients.

Anonymous said...

It would be really in the public interest if the Crown Office were scrapped and power given to the regional PF offices rather than have control from an office which has proved itself unfit for purpose time and again

Anonymous said...

Sack those responsible for this criminality. The Crown Office and its branches are an organized crime gang. It must be stopped at all costs. They made two systems. One for the public where Joe Bloggs would be jailed for a tenth of this sum and another for the professional mendacious thieving scum called lawyers. To the reasonable balanced human being this system stinks. The law is applied [or in this case not applied] not on what has been done but who has done it. No rational person can claim this is a justice system. It was criminals who created this system [which the public were and are kept out of] where those who gain law degrees and become lawyers get special treatment. A man in Hamilton was prosecuted for a £4000.00 legal aid fraud. It was in the newspapers. This is one hundred and twenty five times greater and the Crown Office drop the case. These people are criminals. In the Hamilton case the Sheriff told the man this was the most serious fraud to appear before the court. Different rules applied by these Crown Office bastards, they protect their own. A scandal, and those who dropped this case have zero credibility. Those in the Crown Office should be jailed.

Anonymous said...

There is no complaints system to deal with lawyers in Scotland. Prosecutions may occur only if more of the press report on this corruption.

Self regulation is a loophole to save the judiciary.

Anonymous said...

Impossible to get any kind of justice in Scotland and everyone knows it

Anonymous said...

So, if the Crown Office admit that a crime has been committed and they choose not to prosecute, this is surely defeating the ends of justice?

It cannot be through lack of funds because we are paying far too much already, therefore it must be simply a lack of moral fibre of people who are in power who are acting at the job instead of doing the job?

What has Scotland come to?

A haven for crooks and pedophiles?

Anonymous said...

Either most newspapers are terrified of the Law Society or {what I believe} is that most newspapers are bias towards the Law Society. I have not seen one yet mentioning the endemic corruption exposed of the DOI blog, except the Sunday Mail which is a great paper.

May I suggest people should put comments on the online newspapers about lawyer corruption, every time I try it they don't publish it. It is sinister the loyalties between a so called free press and a judicial dictatorship. I wonder about their links, probably Masonic and no doubt Law Society members will be employed by most newspapers. Lawyers don't want publicity because they don't want the truth coming out about their organized crime gang who purport to stand for justice. Trust none of them for your own well being.

Anonymous said...

No sympathy for Semple Fraser and hope lots more law firms go under after the hammering these leeches have given clients over the years.Also notice how the tv rush to report the demise of lawyers while saying nothing about clients forced out of their homes because of lawyers and their corrupt judge pals in the courts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-21725412

Administrators for law firm Semple Fraser announce 62 redundancies

Administrators for collapsed Scottish law firm Semple Fraser have announced 62 staff redundancies.

They have sold on parts of the corporate law partnership to firms in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester - including Maclay Murray and Spens, Dundas and Wilson, and Weightmans.

Legal trainees are being taken on by other firms to complete their courses.

Semple Fraser was forced to call in administrators due to a downturn in demand for corporate law work.

The company, headquartered in Glasgow, was formed in 1993 and had 20 partners and about 100 staff.

Tom MacLennan, joint administrator and head of restructuring for RSM Tenon in Scotland, said: "The events of the last few weeks have been very demanding for the partners and staff of Semple Fraser and I would like to express our appreciation for their commitment and professionalism in addressing the difficulties as we worked to achieve the best outcome for clients and staff in very difficult circumstances.

"I would also pay particular appreciation to various legal practices that have stepped in to ensure all legal trainees would be able to complete their training and to The Law Society of Scotland and the Solicitors Regulation Authority for their support and assistance during this process."

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

No sympathy for Semple Fraser and hope lots more law firms go under after the hammering these leeches have given clients over the years.Also notice how the tv rush to report the demise of lawyers while saying nothing about clients forced out of their homes because of lawyers and their corrupt judge pals in the courts

GOOD POINT AND AGREE HOPE THEY ALL GO BROKE!

Anonymous said...

As the phrase goes from another story in the Sunday Mail - WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A CROOK!

Anonymous said...

Aside from the obvious on the Semple Fraser story I know someone who was taken to town by this mob and you can guess what happened with their Master Policy claim (zero)

Anonymous said...

Another of these fraud cases strangely gone wrong because it includes a lawyer!

At this rate the tv prosecutors in Law & Order must have a better success rate than your duff Crown Office and chummy Lord Thicko!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

6 March 2013 16:44

YOU ARE DEALING WITH CRIMINALS WHO CANNOT BE PROSECUTED, WE KNOW.

Anonymous said...

Pity Mr Cameron is not on the receiving end of his extreme policy. I have applied for two hundred and eighty jobs to date. He is going to starve people. We are "not all in it together".

Anonymous said...

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/new-scots-abuse-victim-to-sue-cardinal-obrien.20506070

Cardinal Keith O'Brien: a victim speaks of sex abuse he suffered as trainee priest

His solicitor, Cameron Fyfe, said: "I have been instructed to make a claim for compensation against Keith O'Brien and his Archdiocese on the basis of abuse my client suffered at his hands in the 1980s while at seminary.

"I am currently preparing the case but hope in all the current circumstances that the Church may take a reasonable stand and consider settlement of the claim without the expense and trauma of a court action.

"I have acted for over 1000 clients who have been victims of sexual and physical abuse. Over the years you learn to assess credibility. I have found this client to be totally credible. The information he has passed to me is consistent and measured. If the case does eventually require to go to court I think he would be an excellent witness."

++++++++

If a solicitor claims he has acted for thousands of clients and regularly claims this across a wide variety of issues he should list how many of those claims were actually successful and how many failed,how long they took to hear and how much it actually cost the victim/client and what happened to those that ended up in a complaint as I am sure a few did.

Anyway, a relative of mine went to the same solicitor and was given the same story about how the hospital would settle without going to court.Same story about representing hundreds of clients in the same situation.You will not be surprised to learn my relative ended up paying thousands and the case collapsed.Law Society and everyone else looked the other way.

Lawyers who lead their clients up the garden path should face criminal charges and public naming and shaming.

Anonymous said...

Funny how this did not get a mention?

http://www.ssdt.org.uk/findings/finding_item.asp?LTfindingID=541

http://www.ssdt.org.uk/findings/findings/1593_Cameron_Fyfe.pdf

Edinburgh 23 October 2012; The Tribunal having considered the Appeal by Cameron Fyfe, Drummond Miller, Solicitors, 65 Bath Street, Glasgow (“the Appellant”) against a finding of Inadequate Professional Service by the Council of the Law Society of Scotland (“the Law Society”) in relation to Mr A (“the Lay Complainer”) in respect of a complaint by the Lay Complainer against the former firm of Ross Harper and a Direction that: (1) the fees and VAT to which the former firm was entitled shall be nil; (2) the firm be required to refund all fees and VAT paid by the Lay Complainer; and (3) the firm be required to pay the sum of £1500 compensation to the Lay Complainer; Find that the service provided to the Lay Complainer in respect of both issues 1 and 2 did amount to an Inadequate Professional Service; Refuse the Appeal and Confirm the Determination and Direction made by the Council of the Law Society of Scotland in respect of both issues; Find the Appellant liable in the expenses of the Law Society and of the Tribunal including the expenses of the Clerk, chargeable on a time and line basis as the same maybe taxed by the Auditor of the Court of Session on an agent and client, client paying basis in terms of Chapter Three of the last published Law Society’s Table of Fees for general business with a unit rate of £14.00; and Direct that publicity will be given to this decision and that this publicity should include the name of the Appellant.

Anonymous said...

End self regulation otherwise this will continue forever and people are better to die without a will than with one at this rate