Financial Misery: The Failures of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to Regulate Have Cost Many Thousands of Brits Over 50 Million Dollars (Stolen, Embezzled, Defrauded)
Most solicitors are unable to regulate themselves or self-regulate; they'd cheat and lie if that leads to higher profits and no material consequences
To resume soon: Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Inaction and Incompetence
Today in the news:
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Collapsed law firm at centre of £39.5m fraud probe
A law firm that collapsed suddenly is being investigated over a "sophisticated suspected fraud" involving the "improper removal and misuse" of £39.5m of client funds, a regulator has said.
Sheffield-based PM Law Ltd, which had 25 offices in Yorkshire, Cumbria, Berkshire, Derbyshire and London, shut on 2 February, leaving hundreds of people out of work and tens of thousands of cases affected.
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SRA puts size of suspected PM Law fraud at £40m
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) investigation into PM Law “involves a sophisticated suspected fraud”, with the improper removal and misuse of £39.5m of client funds, the regulator has revealed.
It has also paid out £16m to the Sheffield-headquartered group’s former clients.
It described the intervention into PM Law as one of the largest and most complex it has ever undertaken, involving 11 companies, 25 offices and more than 30 trading names spread across Yorkshire, Cumbria, Berkshire, Derbyshire and London.
A fortnight after PM Law suddenly closed its doors in February, the SRA confirmed that it had uncovered a “potential fraud” but could not at that stage say how large it was.
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'Suspected fraud': £39.5m of client money missing from PM Law
As much as £39.5m in client money could be missing from the collapsed PM Law group, the Solicitors Regulation Authority revealed today. In an update, the regulator reiterated that the collapse of the network is being treated as a suspected fraud. PM Law and its group of 11 companies, 25 offices and more than 30 trading names closed suddenly in February, with the SRA intervening two days later.
The amount of missing client money is second in scale only to the Axiom Ince group, where around £64m went missing, and will put enormous pressure on the compensation fund paid for by solicitors and firms.
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SRA investigation into PM Law firm £39.5m suspected fraud
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is looking into the collapse of PM Law, a legal firm with offices in Cumbria, Yorkshire, Berkshire, Derbyshire, and London, after £39.5 million in client money was allegedly misused or removed.
Butterworths Solicitors, in Cumbria was part of the PM Law Group, a UK-based legal business made up of several specialist law firms.
A notice pinned to the door of Butterworths Solicitors’ offices on Lowther Street in Carlisle stated that the firm "can no longer trade" due to regulatory matters.
The sign, which also appeared on other Butterworths offices across Cumbria including Penrith, Whitehaven and Kendal, appeared without warning on Monday, February 2.
Finance. It's always about money. What else do people choose to study law for?
This past Sunday a friend who had sued Scottish Water (they destroyed his garden, he had it all on CCTV!) said lawyers were just thieves. "They are a kind of a thief," I responded jokingly. They kept making more and more excuses to send him more bills (e.g. asking for material he had already sent). He was drowning in bills (in a case that he had started and Scottish Water wanted to settle while exhausting him).
In our case, third parties funded attacks against us, channelled through Americans. When asked for proof of money, their lawyers' firm produced no actual proof, it just wrote a sentence or two in E-mail. There may have been perjuries too, aside from obvious lies. They say it's just some urban myth that honest lawyers exist.
What has the SRA done to prevent more catastrophes like the above? More "press tours" (PR)? Nothing at all?
The sentiment towards the legal "industry" (occupation) is already bad and resentment against the SRA continues to grow. Our politicians have stepped in and exactly a week ago interrogated the SRA over its failures.
One problem is, the SRA is part of the same "industry" and sees the regulated as former colleagues or future colleagues. There's plenty of revolving doors-like activity.
The matter impacts many people, almost all people. It's important to enable people to speak freely about it, without threats sent to family members. █