CRCS Legal December 2024 Newsletter Complaint Resolution Compliance Solutions Welcome to our December 2024 newsletter. Happy Christmas!

CRCS Legal December 2024 Newsletter

Complaint Resolution Compliance Solutions

Welcome to our December 2024 newsletter. Happy Christmas!

Update on the SRA Investigation into Axiom, the Post Office and SSB Law.

SSB Law

The SRA has imposed conditions on the practising certificates of Directors, Jeremy Brookes and Debra Allen and now David Toyne This restricts how they can practice and what they can practice.? Mr Brookes still appears to be a practicing solicitor. The position regarding the other directors is unclear.?

The condition published on the 19 December 2024,” David Toyn shall only provide legal services in connection with the provision of litigation or any claims work as an employee and only where the employment has first been approved by the SRA”

We wonder what future penalties will be imposed and the outcome for the wider profession?

Post office Scandal

The BBC reported that the Post Office's former boss Paula Vennells told the final day of an inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal that her senior team failed to inform her of key information but said "she has no desire to point the finger at others".

In a closing statement, Ms Vennells' lawyer named a number of ex-colleagues - including Angela van den Bogerd - who she claimed did not tell her about pertinent facts linked to the scandal.

Sub-postmasters at the inquiry greeted Ms Vennells' words with groans and, when she said she did not want to blame others, with laughter.

A lawyer said the "evil the Post Office did was profound", describing a "deliberate conspiracy" and "cover up"

The inquiry's findings will be shared next year.

Axiom Ince

As we know, Axiom Ince was closed by the SRA in October last year. The firm had offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Manchester.

Five former members of national firm Axiom Ince have been charged by the Serious Fraud Office with offences including fraud, forgery and the destruction of documents relating to the collapse of the firm and the alleged misuse of client money.

Former chief executive and director Pragnesh Modhwadia, co-director Shyam Mistry and chief financial officer Muhammed Ali are charged with two counts of fraud by abuse of position.

Modhwadia and Mistry and also charged, along with the chief technology officer Rupesh Karawadra and vice president of IT Jayesh Anjaria, with conspiring to conceal, destroy or dispose of documents relevant to a Solicitors Regulation Authority investigation.

A SFO, Director Nick Ephgrave said: ‘The collapse of Axiom Ince left thousands of clients exposed to significant losses and hundreds of people out of a job. The SFO set out to identify and bring those responsible to justice, and today’s charging is a significant milestone in achieving that.’

All defendants are expected to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 15 January to answer the charges against them.

How was this allowed to happen? ?Infact:

SRA investigation into Volume litigation firms

Following on from the cataclysmic collapse of firms such as SSB Law, Pure Legal etc,

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has opened dozens of investigations into law firms in relation to their conduct of volume litigation, it has emerged.

The regulator is now investigating more than 50 firms, a significantly increase since the summer, with the most common types of claims relating to financial products, housing disrepair and cavity wall insulation.

Between them, the firms are reportedly handling more than 150,000 claims.

Most of the cases involve conditional fee agreements, with the ‘no win, no fee’ label, highlighted by the victims of the SSB Law collapse.

The SRA said the most common issues in the investigations were clients acquired via cold calling or unsolicited approaches. The ‘no win, no fee’ being marketed to people on basis that there was no risk of them having to pay any costs when this might not be true, and firms taking on claims without merit or not managing claims properly.

In May, the SRA?published a warning notice?on high-volume financial services claims, together with guidance on the broader issue of claims management activity.

SRA AML Bonanza Fining Blitz

Legal Futures reported that:

• Wrigley Claydon?in Oldham: ￡24,123 (2% of turnover less 20%)
• Stenfield?in North London: ￡22,345 (turnover and percentage not specified – at “higher end” of 1.6%-3.2% band, less 10% discount). The firm also failed to provide staff with any AML training.
• Paul Berg & Taylor?in Harpenden, Hertfordshire: ￡21,588 (2.4%). The firm was not in breach over CMRAs.
• Amanda Shaw Solicitors?in Horsham, West Sussex: ￡15,960 (1.2% less 20% discount).
• Stamp James?in Exeter: ￡12,152 (1.6% less 30% discount). The firm was not in breach over CMRAs.
• Placidi Law Company?in Southampton: ￡7,200 (2.4%, no discount due to not initially co-operating with the SRA). The firm was not in breach over CMRAs.
• Emerys Jones & Co?in Welshpool, Wales: ￡6,592 (2.4% less 20% discount)
• Shranks?in central London: ￡6,500 (turnover and percentage not specified – at “lower end” of 1.6%-3.2% band).
• L.A.R.K. Solicitors?in North London: ￡6,003 (3.6% of turnover, with 10% discount). It also submitted overdue qualified accountants’ reports, allowed a client account shortage of ￡887.50 to exist for several years, and held 83 dormant balances worth ￡41,000.
• Roche Legal?in York: ￡4,698 (1.6% less 20% discount). The firm was not in breach over CMRAs.
• The Oakley Shee Partnership?in the City: ￡2,734 (turnover and percentage not specified – at “lower end” of 1.6%-3.2% band – less 15% discount). The firm was not in breach over PCPs.
• Wilfred Light & Reid?in Southampton: ￡2,566 (2.4% less 10% discount). The firm, a registered sole practice, had an FWRA.
• Southport firm?Cockshott Peck Lewis?was taken to the SDT for not having an FWRA or CMRAs in place, and not adequately training staff.

And finally, so far, Hayes + Storr Limited must pay a financial penalty in the sum of ￡34,046, under Rule 3.1 (b) of the SRA Regulatory and Disciplinary Procedures Rules.

The SRA say: between 26 June 2017 and 8 July 2024, the firm failed to adequately perform and record, and was therefore unable to demonstrate that the extent of the measures it had taken, in respect of client and matter risk assessments (CMRAs), pursuant to Regulation 28(12)(a)(ii) of the MLRs 2017, Regulation 28(13) of the MLRs 2017 and Regulation 28(16) of the MLRs 2017, on circa 13% of its in-scope matters (274 files).

Contact CRCS today to review your Client Matter Risk Assessments without delay. Are you AML procedures robust enough if the SRA comes calling?

Honesty and Integrity and LPAs

A ?lawyer who changed dates on lasting powers of attorney (LPAs) and misled clients about when they were sent to the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) has been struck off.

Matthew Roy Church, aged 26 at the time, admitted acting dishonestly by submitting LPA applications “purportedly signed and dated by the donors and attorneys on the dates stated” when he knew those dates were misleading.

He also admitted acting dishonestly by misleading clients about when the forms were sent to the OPG.

In non-agreed mitigation, Mr Church said that during the Covid period he had “dealt with abnormal working conditions” when arranging meetings was difficult, and “handling paperwork was challenging for the firm, which did not have modern paperless systems”. It was, he claimed, “a chaotic working environment”.

CRCS Legal can assist and review you supervision and file audit procedures.? Contact us today

Beware contempt of Court – TikTok

Mohammed Zeb, co-founder of Stuart Miller Solicitors in London, took advantage of an empty court room and lull between hearings to post a parody of court hearings to his many followers.

Filming within a court building is currently not permitted in England & Wales and can result in a contempt charge. The legislation is to prevent actual trials and hearings being filmed. In this instance, the real court was not in session, and no-one taking part in proceedings was photographed.

However, be mindful of your obligations versus need for content feed!!

Christmas from a Lawyers point of view defending Santa and our clients

Not limited to:

·?????? Will your home insurance cover “an act of Santa”?? Maybe a civil claim?

·?????? Has Santa notified the civil aviation authority / complied with quarantine rules when transporting dear Rudolph and Friends

·?????? Trespass – can Santa rely on “implied consent”

·?????? GDPR – has Santa got a legitimate interest defence for the naughty and nice list?

·?????? Criminal proceedings – how many drinks has Santa drunk that were left on all the fireplaces? Is Santa in violation of the 1872 Licensing Act, which prohibits?being drunk “in charge of any carriage”.

Not sure CRCS can help you with this one! ??However we can help you to ensure your retainer and policy documents are up to date.

By the way……

What do lawyers wear to Christmas dinner?

Their best “briefs”! ??

How can CRCS Legal Ltd help?

The risk of non-compliance is real, serious, and costly.? We can provide:

A comprehensive compliance and web-site health check. A thorough look at your policies and procedures with solutions for any non-compliance.

Technical compliance support on an ad hoc or retainer basis. This will give you direct access to compliance professionals.

Complaint handling and assistance with the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) We can investigate the complaints, make recommendations, and draft your complaint response. We have years of experience of dealing with Le0.

Compliance training – one off training courses and comprehensive training programmes.? We can help you comply with the SRA’s continuing competence requirements.

File reviews and audits – detailed and in-depth reviews in accordance with the SRA supervision requirements.

Bespoke Compliance policies, procedures and templates.?

Assistance with Lexcel accreditation and visits

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) – a review of procedures and policies update

Transparency rules – Are you publishing the correct costs and complaints information?

GDPR and the ICO – including managing data breaches and SARs.

Advice on PII renewal

Assistance with SRA investigations and prosecutions

Merger and Acquisitions- assessment of regulatory compliance issues and due diligence.

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Thank you to all our clients new and old: Wishing you all A happy and peaceful Christmas and new year to all.

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Make sure you start off your New Year into a New Start and contact CRCS Legal for a free confidentiality discuss about what you need to remain compliant: 0330 2210511 or [email protected]