Will the SRA’s drubbing in Beckwith inhibit its longer-term efforts to curb sexual misconduct in the legal profession? And should we take at face value pledges by law firms that they will get serious when confronted by such allegations? Eduardo Reyes reports.
By John Hyde2021-05-13T08:24:00+01:00
A solicitor who ignored red flags on dozens of suspicious personal injury claims has been fined £35,000 by a tribunal.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found that Asghar Ali, director and owner of Bolton firm AA Solicitors Limited, failed to spot that multiple claims from the same source were ‘strikingly similar’ in nature and bore the hallmarks of fraud.
Ali, a solicitor for 19 years, turned a ‘wilful blind eye’ to the obvious suspicious circumstances of each claim as they were rapidly advanced. RTA personal injury claims accounted for 24% of the firm’s turnover, and the business received legal costs of more than £37,000 from 40 cases where compensation was paid which were investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
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Vikas Shah and Stephen Hill appointed to BEIS Board
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has today (13 May 2021) appointed Vikas Shah MBE and Stephen Hill OBE as non-executive board members at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Vikas and Stephen will help to steer the department’s board as BEIS tackles key issues facing the UK, including the economic recovery from coronavirus, efforts to combat climate change and promote science, research and innovation, while ensuring the UK is a great place to work and to grow a business.
Both appointees bring a wealth of experience to their roles. Vikas Shah was awarded an MBE for Services to Business and the Economy in 2018, and is the Managing Director of Swiscot Group, and President of the North West Region chapter of TiE – the world’s largest entrepreneurs network.
The
Gazette has been contacted by practitioners concerned about the closure of the Solicitors Indemnity Fund from the end of September. The closure of the fund effectively means any solicitor facing a negligence claim outside of their six-year run-off will not be covered, unless they have taken out extra insurance.
The fund, established by the Law Society in 1987, is currently run by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. According to the most recent accounts, the SIF had net assets of £22.48m at 31 October 2020, with around 200 cases ongoing.
Andrew Stovin, a retired solicitor from St Albans, is coordinating a group of former practitioners demanding to know what will be done with the surplus and what more action can be taken to protect people or their dependants from historical claims.