Monday, February 02, 2015

GONE MEDIATIN’: Pro-lawyer legal regulator loses another CEO as Matthew Vickers leaves Scottish Legal Complaints Commission for Ombudsman Services role

Matthew Vickers, CEO of law regulator resigns for mediation post. TROUBLED regulator of solicitors - the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has announced the resignation of yet another Chief Executive - Matthew Vickers - who steps down in March 2015 for a post in the world of big business mediation.

Mr Vickers, who took on the CEO role at the SLCC during summer of 2012 after the ‘independent’ regulator had lost several bosses over a four year span - is leaving to take up the post of Deputy Chief Ombudsman at Ombudsman Services - a not-for-profit organisation which provides independent dispute resolution for the communication, energy and property sectors.

Commenting on the resignation SLCC chair, Bill Brackenridge said: “We are grateful to Matt for his leadership and contribution since he joined the SLCC as CEO in June 2012. He and the management and staff have worked hard to make the SLCC a more efficient, effective and influential organisation. We are now well established as an independent and impartial body. Of course, we recognise that there is a great deal of work to be done and we have started our search to find a CEO who will help us to tackle it."

The overly pro-lawyer, anti-consumer SLCC – frequently accused of bias towards solicitors over poor handling client complaints has cost clients a staggering £18 million since it was created in 2008 with an extra £2million of taxpayers money handed over by the Scottish Government.

The cost of running the SLCC is  met by a complaints levy of around £300 a year, paid by solicitors who then go on to recover the levy through hikes in legal fees to clients.

In the eight years since the SLCC has existed, not one rogue solicitor or law firm has been named & shamed by the poorly constituted regulator – once touted as the key to cleaning up the poor and often corrupt reputation of legal services in Scotland.

Over the years, the regulator has been subject to numerous scandals, ranging from board members drunken jibes against victims of rogue lawyers, to accusations it failed to use powers to monitor damages claims made in the courts by financially ruined clients against the Law Society’s Master Insurance Policy.

A report commissioned by the SLCC on the Master Policy revealed clients were not getting a fair deal from the Law Society's ‘crooked lawyer’ compensation scheme, and that clients had committed suicide after not being able to repair the damage to their lives caused by their solicitors. However nothing has been done by the SLCC on this matter since the report came out in 2009, reported here: Suicides, illness, broken families and ruined clients reveal true cost of Law Society's Master Policy which 'allows solicitors to sleep at night'

The SLCC’s latest annual report for 2013-2014 claimed the regulator had awarded a record £365K in compensation to clients who filed complaints about rogue Scots lawyers.

However an analysis of the figures revealed the SLCC only used its powers to nullify fees to clients on two occasions in the past year, raising questions as to why the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission continues to solicitors found guilty of providing poor legal services to demand fees from clients even after ruining their legal interests.

REVOLVING DOOR OF LEGAL REGULATOR CHIEFS:

The post of the SLCC’s Chief Executive has seen considerable controversy since the legal quango was created in 2008. Now, eight years on and five Chief Executives later, the SLCC is looking for another boss to steer it through troubled waters and continuing accusations of pro-lawyer bias.

mkmc slcc openingMacAskill as Justice Secretary backed huge secret payoff for ‘too ill to work’ former Chief Executive. The SLCC’s first ‘appointed’ Chief Executive - Eileen Masterman - held the role for less than a year, negotiated a secret, substantial payoff backed personally by the Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, and resigned from her role at the SLCC on grounds of “ill health”. Eileen Masterman then returned to work for her former employer - the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) as a “complaints reviewer”, and was accused of whitewashing the circumstances of the death of a baby at the NHS Forth Valley Hospital – reported by Diary of Injustice & the Sunday Mail newspaper here : Deputy First Minister to look into death of baby McKenzie Wallace after parents complain of ‘whitewash’ report by SPSO investigator Eileen Masterman

The SLCC’s first Chief Executive – civil servant Richard Smith - resigned from the role after disagreements about how the SLCC would act as a regulator. Mr Smith was then replaced by another civil servant before Mrs Masterman was eventually appointed as the first ‘official’ CEO.

Concluding a turbulent few months which saw exchanges of letters between current Deputy First Minister John Swinney and Masterman over claims and counter-claims about the Master Policy – reported here: SLCC’s Eileen Masterman resigns, questions remain on attempt to mislead Cabinet Finance Chief John Swinney over secret meetings with insurers Marsh’ Masterman stood down from the SLCC – which by that time had suffered significant reputational damage.

After a speedy recruitment round, Rosemary Agnew then became the SLCC’s fourth Chief Executive, reported here: The £80K job no-one wants : Lawyers lobby seek FIFTH time unlucky Chief Executive for Scottish Legal Complaints Commission role. However Ms Agnew later resigned to take up the post of Scottish Information Commissioner in early 2012.

The SLCC’s current and now outgoing CEO Matthew Vickers took on the role in June 2012, reported here: “Customer Service” main focus for Ex-Foreign Office Consul taking over as FIFTH Chief Exec at ‘anti-consumer’ Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Must be a hell of an organisation to lose 5 chief execs in 8 years

Anonymous said...

SLCC chair, Bill Brackenridge said: “We are grateful to Matt for his leadership and contribution since he joined the SLCC as CEO in June 2012. He and the management and staff have worked hard to make the SLCC a more efficient, effective and influential organisation. We are now well established as an independent and impartial body. Of course, we recognise that there is a great deal of work to be done and we have started our search to find a CEO who will help us to tackle it."

Complete rubbish.

Brackenridge knows full well the SLCC is pro lawyer and always will be.How can it be anything else when half the Law Society interfere in it or work at the SLCC.

£18 million of waste!

Anonymous said...

Years on and no justice at the slcc what a surprise!

Anonymous said...

Some scandal with Masterman and Swinney how did that avoid the papers and why did MacAskill get away with a secret settlement to Masterman and she goes off to SPSO

Anonymous said...

Next!

Anonymous said...

Surely no surprise.

The position is clearly being used as a stepping stone for career advancement.Little really to do with giving anyone a fair hearing against a rogue lawyer.

At least you gave us a decent version compared to the LSoS take.

Anonymous said...

Well imagine that.The Cherbi blog has seen off 5 slcc quango chiefs and expensive board members at the bars.

I remember a well known nut from the Law Society rang my editor on a 2006 Feb Friday afternoon.Among other insults caller said he was going to bury you by any means possible.
Boss at the time played back the threat laden convo during midday conf.All present said it should go in paper and you given a chance to report it to cops but lawyers kept it out.
Gives you an idea of how lawyers fear candid unedited reports on their work.
Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Is he also inline for a payoff?

Cant say I am surprised to hear a regulator of lawyers is as rotten as the lawyers it is supposedly regulating!

Anonymous said...

I reckon the term "Ombudsmen" was invented by Governments and big business just to piss on the rest of us.Not once ever any of these ombudsmen done anything real for anyone.

Anonymous said...

You can forget any customer service at the slcc all they are about is making sure you cant get anywhere with your complaints about lawyers have been there done that got nowhere and my ex lawyer even upped his fee after the complaint was dismissed and said he destroyed my file so my medical claim collapsed and cant get another lawyer to take me on also he stole from the legal aid board because he forced me to sign fake forms and the slcc did not report it

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Surely no surprise.

The position is clearly being used as a stepping stone for career advancement.Little really to do with giving anyone a fair hearing against a rogue lawyer.

At least you gave us a decent version compared to the LSoS take.

2 February 2015 at 15:53

sums it up - fart about for a few years on high salary and then onto something else makes sense to them all the quango set do same

Anonymous said...

Vickers off to catch a bigger fish must have got tired of covering up for corrupt liars

Anonymous said...

He may just been passing through however he has probably discovered like the rest of your readers the slcc cannot be changed no matter what.

Anonymous said...

More judges pls SLCC not very important or anyone in it we know they are bad purpose already

Anonymous said...

so lemme get this str8 you guys spend $27mil on a bunch of lawyers looking after lawyers?

I thought the Scottish are supposed to be stingy I guess just not when filling lawyers pockets while they screw over the rest of u!

wise up guyz!

Anonymous said...

No statement released by Vickers?
He was happy enough touting the £1bn legal profession last month for the annual report..

Anonymous said...

SLCC chair, Bill Brackenridge said: “We are grateful to Matt for his leadership and contribution since he joined the SLCC as CEO in June 2012. He and the management and staff have worked hard to make the SLCC a more efficient, effective and influential organisation. We are now well established as an independent and impartial body. Of course, we recognise that there is a great deal of work to be done and we have started our search to find a CEO who will help us to tackle it."
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Like an old record that is scratched on a turntable it keeps repeating the same thing. They just keep pumping out the same propaganda, as if repetition will convince us. How out of touch they really are. But let's be fair they work very hard protecting crooked lawyers. If Matt was going to protect the public he would not have got the job in the first place.

Diary of Injustice said...

@ 2 February 2015 at 14:33

Wheels within wheels and lots of backslapping between Scottish Ministers, the SLCC & various law firms.Much of it was reported on Diary of Injustice at the time although the SLCC and Scottish Government concealed details of the payoff to Ms Masterman.

@ 2 February 2015 at 16:35

If this relates to the LC incident, get in touch via the blog or preferred channels ...

Anonymous said...

If MacAskill signed off on the payment to Masterman it must be public money so we are entitled to know how much.

As for Vickers well nothing has changed at the SLCC since you started writing about it in 2008 and nothing will ever change.He knows it the lawyers know it and we all know it.As long as lawyers cover up for their own there is no point in anyone bothering to use them it is just a complete waste of money and time and a form of self abuse.

Anonymous said...

£18m is a total waste of money on lawyers looking after their own and you are correct they will be fleecing all their clients to recover the costs!Horrible thought but true!

Anonymous said...

Tell us the 'real' reason Vickers' is on his bike?

Anonymous said...

The real reason?

Looks like the hand of this blog once again after I read all that part about the other ceo's and their goings

Diary of Injustice said...

@ 6 February 2015 at 00:06

SLCC may just have been a stepping stone on the career ladder.

SLCC CEO is not really much of a position when the Law Society of Scotland effectively runs the SLCC, and with all that phoning home to Drumsheugh Gardens going on within the SLCC there is little fairness for consumers ... and the mediation process is just a joke, designed to keep complaints off the books and make complainants believe they are getting a fair deal after being ripped off by some rogue lawyer.

At time of publication there was no statement from Mr Vickers in the SLCC's announcement.

Anonymous said...

Five Chief Executives is a pretty good indication the SLCC is not the place to be and probably the reason he left.Also you do not make life easy with your regular investigations into their "pro lawyer" activities.