LEGAL AID SCAMS

FOURTEEN CROOKED LAWYERS DON'T GET PROSECUTED FOR FIDDLING LEGAL AID
As we have been reporting for years Legal aid is the golden goose of the legal mafia. They have been stealing decent men's livelihoods in civil courts to prop up the criminal lawyers making a fortune from defending their serial criminal thug pals

Fourteen lawyers reported after being accused of fiddling Legal Aid - but not one prosecution

LEGAL aid bosses have reported 14 lawyers to prosecutors for allegedly fiddling a fortune in taxpayers' cash - but not a single one has been put in the dock. Eleven suspected fraud cases were marked no proceedings, one lawyer was declared insane, one died and the other is still being considered.

Crown officials did not identify any of the lawyers involved or reveal the scale of their alleged fraud. The revelations were made by Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service director of operations Scott Pattison in response to a freedom of information request. His first reply identified 13 cases reported to the Crown Office since 2005. He later revealed there had been a 14th case. He said: "The Scottish Legal Aid Board did not submit a crime report but were assisted by the police in carrying out further inquiries." Mr Pattison added that this case was also marked no proceedings by the procurator fiscal.

Last year, Scottish lawyers were given £155million of taxpayers' money for legal aid work. Despite public spending cuts biting elsewhere, they have opposed justice secretary Kenny MacAskill's attempt to reduce legal aid costs. Legal reform campaigner Peter Cherbi said: "It seems that the Crown Office - which is run by lawyers - has one rule for the legal profession and another for the rest of us. "If you receive taxpayers' money, you should be open to full public scrutiny." And MP Brian Donohoe added: "This is outrageous but hardly surprising given that it's lawyers regulating lawyers. "We need an independent system of regulation. Until that happens, people will have no confidence."

The Sunday Mail have led the way in exposing lawyers accused of legal aid rackets. Four months ago we revealed that Kilmarnock solicitor Niels Lockhart, 60, raked in more than £600,000 in two years. Legal aid watchdogs ruled that Lockhart made dodgy claims but did not call in police. He is still practising but no longer claiming legal aid. We also exposed three lawyers who worked for Paisley firm Robertson & Ross. Ian Robertson was forced to hand back £221,847 in claims and banned from further claims. Colleagues Fraser Currie and Alastair Gibb were also banned.

And last year we told how a lawyer banned from claiming huge sums of legal aid was back in business. Steven Anderson, 52, who worked in Springburn, Glasgow, pocketed £560,330 in one year. Slab blocked £500,000 of pending payments and banned all future claims by Anderson, but he was not struck off. Slab said: "We provide all relevant and available information to the police and Crown Office. It is for the procurator fiscal to decide if there is sufficient evidence to proceed with a prosecution."

  • FULL ARTICLE HERE
  • The Price of Justice : Scottish Legal Aid Board charge millions to taxpayer funded credit cards
  • Legal Aid officials hid details of dodgy claims scandal as ‘Pay-Up threats’ from £600K legal aid rogue lawyer leaves pensioner, 70, starving, homeless
    • CAMERON'S BROTHER A LAWYER AND HIS SECRETIVE LEGAL AID FEES
    ALEX CAMERON MAYBE THE BIGGEST RACKET ON THE PLANET, LEGAL AID, A GLOBAL HONEY POT FOR CROOKED LAWYERS WHO ROB DIVORCING MEN TO PROP UP MASSIVE LEGAL FEES FOR DEFENDING(INDEFENSIBLE) THEIR SERIAL CRIMINAL CLIENTS, AND HOW LEGAL PARASITES GET WEALTHY LIVING OFF THE POOR.

    David Cameron's barrister brother is at the centre of a row over how much he has been paid in legal aid fees after Ministers blocked attempts to publish details of his public earnings.

    Alex Cameron QC is a leading criminal lawyer who heads his chambers in London. But a request to disclose his fees under Freedom of Information laws has been blocked by the Justice Ministry. Last night, Tory MP Stuart Jackson said that it was ‘inappropriate’ that 500 barristers earn more than the Prime Minister’s £142,500. A legal source said Alex Cameron, 47, earned up to £1 million a year from a mix of publicly funded and private work. Mr Jackson said: ‘It should not be necessary to go through Freedom of Information laws to find information about barristers. I shall be taking this further to ensure it is a matter of transparency.’

    Alex Cameron and other members of his chambers have written to the Ministry of Justice to raise concerns about the Prime Minister’s plans to cut the legal aid budget by £350 million. . Alex Cameron’s chambers declined to reveal his legal aid fees. Clerks passed details to the Ministry of Justice a month ago. Correspondence seen by The Mail on Sunday shows the Ministry of Justice’s failure to release those details is now being investigated by the Information Commissioner. Father-of-two Alex Cameron was voted head of chambers a few weeks before his brother, 44, was elected Prime Minister.

  • FULL ARTICLE HERE
    		•
    THE LEGAL AID GANGSTERS ON £800K A YEAR
    legal aid 2011 THE LEGAL AID RACKET IS THE WORLD'S BIGGEST CRIMINAL SCAM THAT PROPS UP THE UTTER DREGS OF THE EARTH WHO USE LEGAL AID TO DESTROY THE MILLIONS OF MEN AND THE OCCASIONAL WOMAN CAUGHT UP IN THEIR DIVORCE HONEY TRAP. MEN LOSING HOMES, BUSINESS'S AND ASSETS USED TO FUND THE LEGAL AID BOARD'S AND THEIR CRIMINAL RACKETS.

    THEIR COMPLICIT MEDIA RUN STORIES LIKE THIS EVERY YEAR BUT IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE THEY STILL CONTINUE TO GET BILLIONS IN THIS NEVER ENDING SCAM THAT CAN'T BE BROKEN UNTIL MEN THEMSELVES REALISE WHAT THEY ARE GETTING INTO WHEN IN A RELATIONSHIP ESPECIALLY MARRIAGE. FAMILY COURTS ALONG WITH DEFENDING THEIR SERIAL CRIMINAL BUDDIES ARE RACKETS THAT GO ON FOR TEN YEARS OR MORE WERE CROOKED LAWYERS, JUDGES, COPS AND BAILIFFS WILL TERRORIZE YOU , SOMETIMES UNTIL DEATH TO PRIZE EVERY LAST BREATH AND ASSET FROM YOUR BODY, SATANIC MASONIC EVIL AT ITS EXTREME. A LEGAL AID LAWYERS BEST FRIENDS ARE GOLDDIGGING FEMALES AND SERIAL CRIMINAL THUGS THAT ENSURE THE GRAVY TRAIN OF LEGAL AID GOES ON AD INFINITUM PAID FOR BY GOOD FATHERS TREATED ABYSMALLY TO PROP UP THIS VILE RACKETEERING.

    At least 500 barristers earned more in taxpayer-funded legal aid last year than the Prime Minister is paid in salary. The top-earning state-subsidised advocate made well over £800,000 presenting the courtroom defence of those accused of serious crime. And in civil law cases, the best-paid legal aid barristers – one accumulated nearly £600,000 – were experts in divorce and child law in the secretive family courts. Earnings from legal aid among barristers are now such that one in every 30 of Britain’s 15,000 barristers earns more than David Cameron’s annual £142,500, figures showed yesterday. The prosperity of the fat cats of the legal profession at the expense of the state was made public as Justice Secretary Ken Clarke prepares large cuts to the £2.1billion-a-year legal aid budget.

    Mr Clarke has said tax money is supporting ‘unnecessary court cases which would never have even reached the courtroom door were it not for the fact that somebody else was paying’. But lawyers’ organisations and some Liberal Democrats are fighting to shield legal aid from cuts on the grounds that ‘access to justice’ for the poor must be preserved. The figures, from the Ministry of Justice in a written answer to Tory MP Stewart Jackson, show that 463 barristers each earned more than £150,000 from legal aid in the financial year to April 2010.

    Another 100 are likely to have made between that figure and Mr Cameron’s £142,500. The Justice Ministry indicated yesterday that it is planning cuts of 10 per cent in legal aid fees paid to both barristers and solicitors for work on civil and family law cases. Other more detailed fee cuts are expected, including an end to extra payments in cases that take more than 40 days of work.

    The cost of subsidised lawyers’ fees to the public has more than doubled over 15 years, although increases have halted in recent years as both Labour and the Coalition tried to slam on the spending brakes. The legal aid bill in 2009/10 included £95million on complex criminal trials, when defence lawyers are often paid large sums by the taxpayer. Large amounts also go on personal injury claims against hospitals and health authorities.

    The NHS paid out £312 million in compensation in 2008/09 – and a further £144million in lawyers’ bills. The Law Society, the professional body for lawyers, has called for a cap on fees which, it says, would curb the highest earners, particularly in criminal law, and help save Mr Clarke more than the £350million he aims to slice off legal aid spending.

  • FULL ARTICLE HERE
  • Lawyers complicit media promote marriage honey trap
  • Tycoon's mysterious death and an internet bride battling his family over £1.5m fortune
    • ROBERT GREEN VISITS THE OFFICES OF THE HEAD OF LEGAL AID IN SCOTLAND VIDEO


  • LEGAL AID CHIEF ARRESTED WITH RENT BOY IN SHOPPING CENTRE TOILET
  • LAWYER CLEARED IN RENT BOY QUIZ
    • THE LEGAL AID RACKET THAT IS NEVER TREATED BY COPS OR LEGAL MAFIA AS FRAUD
    Solicitor made "unnecessary and excessive" claims for legal aid and raked in over £600,000 of public money

    LEGAL AID watchdogs have accused a solicitor who took £600,000 of taxpayers' money in two years of deliberately ramping up his claims. Niels Lockhart, 60, who runs a one-man firm in Kilmarnock, raked in £280,200 in 2004 then £321,400 the following year. After he ignored a warning to curb his claims, the Scottish Legal Aid Board investigated before a probe team concluded that his applications were a systematic attempt to create extra fees.

    But despite deciding that he routinely made "unnecessary and excessive" claims, SLAB did not call in police. They referred Lockhart to the Law Society who also decided no fraud had taken place. The secret SLAB dossier, obtained through freedom of information laws, said: "Lockhart routinely makes consecutive grants of advice and assistance to the same clients for what appear to be similar matters submitted under a different guise. In the board's view, the ranges of actions taken by Lockhart towards achieving those payments are not those appropriate to a competent and reputable solicitor. "He arranges for, or permits, his clients to attend his office on numerous occasions for excessive, unnecessary and often irrelevant meetings.

    "In the main, these do not appear to have advantages for their further welfare or advance their case but merely act as a mechanism for the firm to exploit the Legal Aid fund by charging for these unnecessary and unproductive meetings." The audit discovered Lockhart's firm was granted 392 "advice and assistance" applications for clients considering civil legal actions over 10 months in 2004 - more than double the number granted to the firm making the second highest number of similar applications. The report stated: "The analysis revealed persistent patterns of excessive client attendances, the vast majority of which are irrelevant, unnecessary and conducted without due regard to economy.

    "This appears to the board to be a deliberate scheme by Lockhart to make consecutive grants of advice and assistance on behalf of the same client for the same matter for personal gain." Slab officials warned Lockhart about his claims in April 2005 but he "continued to show contempt for the board's serious concerns regarding his practices that were discussed at that meeting". That prompted SLAB to send their damning 13-page report to legal regulator the Law Society of Scotland in June 2006. Yet the Law Society did not report SLAB's concerns to police or refer him to the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal.

    It took them another four years to even agree Lockhart should be banned from legal aid. Last October, Lockhart's lawyer James McCann struck a deal with SLAB which allowed Lockhart to agree to quit legal aid voluntarily. He continues to do other legal work. A slab spokesman said: "The matter was not one of fraud and, therefore, not a criminal matter.

  • FULL ARTICLE HERE
  • MORE LEGAL AID SCAMS HERE
    		•
    FURY AS 'FAT CAT' LAWYERS MAKE £300,000 A DAY IN LEGAL AID
    legal aid racket CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

    SCOTLAND'S 'fat cat' lawyers are raking in more than £300,000 a day in taxpayer-funded legal aid payments. The latest figures show Glasgow firm Livingstone Brown has become the first Scottish practice to make more than £2million from the legal aid fund in a single year. A further 11 firms banked more than £1 million each.

    Donald Findlay maintained his position as Scotland's top-earning legal aid lawyer. The flamboyant QC and former Rangers vicechairman was paid just over £300,000, including VAT, last year. The legal aid payments topped £121million in 2009-10.

    SNP ministers want to axe a third of the legal aid budget but are likely to find it difficult to do so following the recent emergency laws which allow suspects to have an immediate right to a solicitor instead of waiting up to six hours. It is feared the move will cost the taxpayer at least £20million more a year in additional legal aid payments. Critics last night called for a clampdown on the payments to Scotland's legal elite.

    John O'Connell, research director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'This is a big bill and it's crucial that taxpayers' money is not misused. 'While we do need to promote access to justice, costs need to be controlled and too many cases look like a poor use of taxpayers' hard-earned money.' Figures from the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) show Livingstone Brown's state funded fees for 2009-10 topped £2.1million, a 9 per cent increase on the previous year and a 32 per cent rise over the past five years. Among the other firms of solicitors doing well out of legal aid payments was Glasgow practice Ross Harper in second place. It banked [pounds sterling]1.5million in taxpayer-funded work last year.

  • FULL ARTICLE HERE
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    SHAMED LAWYER STAYS OUT OF COURT DESPITE ADMITTING £221,000 OF BOGUS CLAIMS
    LEGAL AID THE BIGGEST CORRUPT RACKET ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH

    Shamed lawyer stays out of court despite admitting £221k of bogus claims

    A LAWYER has escaped the dock - after handing back more than £200,000 of bogus legal aid claims. A criminal probe into Iain Robertson has been dropped after he returned £221,847 to the Scottish Legal Aid Board. Amazingly, Robertson is even allowed to continue claiming legal aid for civil cases while waiting to discover if he will be struck off.

    The scandal centred on the 57-year-old shamed solicitor and his firm Robertson & Ross in Paisley. Another lawyer - Aberdeen-based Alastair Gibb - was also investigated. Scots Lib Dem justice spokesman Robert Brown demanded to know why Robertson is not being taken to court. He said: "It seems that the Crown Off ice have some questions to answer as to why they didn't prosecute what appears to be a straightforward fraud involving a significant amount of money." Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker added: "This is a very serious issue and we should have clarity on why the Crown Office decided not to proceed. "The sum of cash is huge and I'll be interested to know why the lawyers involved haven't faced criminal charges."

    Robertson was accused of submitting £223,000 worth of false claims for taxpayers' cash from SLAB over an 18-month period. The claims were based on Gibb travelling thousands of miles from Paisley to see clients in Aberdeen and Peterhead prisons. In reality, Gibb was living in Kingswells, near Aberdeen. Earlier this month, Robertson agreed to pay have back £221,847 to SLAB and was banned from claiming criminal legal aid cash in the future. But he's still allowed to claim legal aid for any civil cases he undertakes. Gibb, 60, did not renew his certificate to practise as a solicitor with the Law Society of Scotland after SLAB called in police two years ago.

    Fraud squad detectives submitted a detailed report about the case to Crown prosecutors in April, 2008. But officials marked the case "no proceedings" and stubbornly refuse to explain their decision. Last year Robertson & Ross received £367,600 in legal aid compared to £832,000 between 2007 and 2008. Legal aid exists to pay fees for those who can't afford to hire a solicitor.

    Gibb claimed he was sacked by Robertson & Ross but was awarded a cash settlement by the f irm before an unfair dismissal tribunal. He said: "What went on between SLAB and Robertson & Ross is totally outwith my knowledge, other than that I assisted SLAB once. I'm now 60 and don't have a hope in hell of getting a job now. I've been wiped out." In December, 2008, Robertson was censured by the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal for ripping off a client for £21,308. He took cash payments from the woman whi le claiming legal aid for the work.He was fined £5000 and found guilty of professional misconduct. A SLAB spokesman said: "Iain Robertson and Alastair Gibb have been investigated. The sum of £221,847 has been paid back."

    Robertson said: "It was accepted that payments had been wrongly claimed and as the supervising partner I had to accept responsibilty. "We dealt with the matter and agreed the figures. I'm disappointed that SLAB have taken the decision they have." A Crown Office spokeswoman said: "We received a report in relation to two men aged, 60 and 57, in relation to an alleged incident in Paisley in 2008. After full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances, Crown Counsel instructed there should be no proceedings in relation to this matter."

  • SOURCE
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    LEGAL AID CHIEF ARRESTED WITH RENT BOY IN SHOPPING CENTRE TOILET
    haggarty Scotlands evil legal system with perverts like this heading their masonic mafia scams.

    This is why there is so much enthusiasm by the legal and political mafia to promote gay agendas to allow evil scumbags like Haggarty to abuse vulnerable young boys. The GAY mafia alongside the legal,political and masonic mafia are all part of a much bigger EVIL picture. One example was what was going on in Jersey were care homes were churning out the vulnerable kids to satisfy the needs of scum like Haggarty.

    So many scots are blinded they cannot see the extreme evil in our midst, that a gay agenda includes destroying heterosexual families . Haggarty was in a perfect place to provide the funds(legal aid) to destroy heterosexual fathers leaving ever more children potentially open to being removed into the child care system were scum like Haggarty can then prey on the kids abandoned when they are failed by that system . What is scary is that the agenda is becoming clearer by the day and MUCH WORSE than we ever imagined.

    The Haggarty article may just start to educate the sheeple that we have struggled to convince just what evil bastards have taken over the control of Scotland, but to be truthful these people have NEVER gone away.We can only but be strengthened by news like Haggarty getting exposed FINALLY in the mainstream media, as they will ultimately create their own downfall.We remain eternally patient to see these scum rising to the surface from their own despicable perversions. We have seen these EVIL bastards get OFF on inflicting pain on the unsuspecting public. Exactly how Scottish judges operate who are a twisted bunch of bastards and Haggarty proves there are no depths they will not go to satisfy their creepy and perverted needs.

    Legal aid chief arrested with rent boy in shopping centre toilet

    A LEGAL Aid boss has been arrested in a public toilet with a rent boy. Douglas Haggarty, 57, was arrested in a shopping mall after being found with the teenage prostitute. He is the head of legal services at the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) - where his duties include lecturing lawyers on their public conduct.

    Haggarty was arrested in British Home Stores in the St Enoch Centre, Glasgow. Security guards alerted police after the known rent boy was seen following Haggarty into the shop's toilets.

    Both men were arrested and Haggarty was charged with soliciting in a public place. The procurator fiscal started summary proceedings against Haggarty.
    But his lawyer Paul McBride QC - who sits as a member on the Scottish Legal Aid Board - asked the Crown Office to drop the charges, claiming there was not enough evidence to convict. The procurator fiscal has decided to scrap court proceedings and deal with the case by a direct measure. These are powers available to prosecutors to deal with cases quickly. They include issuing a fine, compensation order and written warning about future conduct. The powers available to procurators fiscal were extended last year. The rent boy also had court proceedings against him dropped and was issued with a direct measure.

    Haggarty, who lives in the Merchant City area of Glasgow, started work as a solicitor in 1975. He helped Lord Bonomy compile his 2002 report on improving the practices and procedure of the High Court.

    Haggarty submitted a paper to a Scottish Parliament finance committee on criminal procedure in 2003 and has been a member of other High Court review teams. The legal aid chief, who declined to comment, has been off work sick since the incident in January.

    A slab spokesman said: "The Board is aware of the case and that it has not been prosecuted. It's not appropriate for us to comment further." Haggarty isn't the first SLAB boss to be arrested and dogged by controversy. Dr Richard Scott, former head of SLAB, was twice arrested over incidents with his wife.

    Arrest In January 1997 he was charged with three assaults but only convicted of breach of the peace and disorderly behaviour. Six months later Scott was arrested again when police were called to his home but the Crown Office decided not to bring criminal charges. Scott stood down as head of SLAB in 1999.

  • SOURCE
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    LAWYER CLEARED IN RENT BOY QUIZ
    haggarty A LEGAL Aid boss, who was arrested in a toilet with a rent boy, has kept his job and won't be struck off as a lawyer.Douglas Haggarty, 58, was found with the teenager by security guards in British Home Stores in the St Enoch Centre, Glasgow, in January. The head of legal services at the Scottish Legal Aid Board, where his duties include lecturing lawyers on their conduct, was charged with soliciting in a public place.

    But his lawyer, Paul McBride, QC, claimed there was not enough evidence and charges were dropped.The Crown Office said Haggarty had been dealt with by a direct measure but would not say whether it was a warning letter, fine or other penalty. Now the Law Society of Scotland have revealed he will face no professional sanctions.

    The high-flying lawyer, who lives in Glasgow's Merchant City, went off sick from work after the incident but is understood to have been back for several months. A Law Society spokesman said: "The society's client care committee took account of the fiscal's decision and reasons for it." A SLAB spokesman said: "It would be inappropriate for the board to comment on a matter personal to a member of staff."Charges against the teenager were also dropped.

  • SOURCE
  • LEGAL AID CHIEF ARRESTED WITH RENT BOY IN SHOPPING CENTRE TOILET
  • Law chief held with rent boy (Scanned newspaper clip)
  • Scotland's 'rent boy’ justice system under investigation
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    SCOTLANDS UTTER SCUM THE SCOTTISH LEGAL AID BOARD
    slab Try and find out how many homes are repossessed(STOLEN) by the utterly corrupt Scottish legal aid board and they will state NONE. Yet every day crooked lawyers acting as third party for the legal aid board steal homes on their behalf. No paper trail of what they are stealing, under the guise of court orders manufactured by crooked judges to line the pockets of maybe the most corrupt legal body on the planet.

    No surprise the head of legal services at the Scottish Legal Aid Board Douglas Haggarty, who was responsible for much of this house theft, was a pervert who preyed on young rent boys as the EVIL that emanated from that office could only come from the utter scum of the earth. Crooked lawyers would have NO POWER but for the money that pours endlessly from the Scottish Legal Aid Board to tie up peoples lives for tens of years, we have personal experience of many lives destroyed by the SLAB mafia,including the ease with which banks give them information prior to seizing EVERYTHING you have ever earned ILLEGALLY.

    Lyndsey Montgomery and the rest of the masonic mobsters that run SLAB are mostly hand picked lawyers and judges looking after their own. Until SLAB is fully exposed, the twisted legal actions they generate,and the enormous damage in throwing victims onto the street, will continue unabated.

    SLAB is the financial power behind the whole legal system in Scotland, NOT a means to allow those unable to afford legal cases assistance. A legal opponent will get endless legal aid as long as their is a BOUGHT house waiting to be stolen and sold to re-line the deep pockets SLAB operates with. All the criminal case fees defended by corrupt lawyers and their serial criminal buddies are supplied from families who, through endless divorce actions , have had their homes stolen to pay for this massive racket, that has little or no paper trail to show a multi-billion pound scam operated by every government in Scotland since devolution.

    A secret tax raising power and trough that all the political and legal mafia have their noses in and much more lucrative than all Wesminsters MP's expenses put together.

  • Law chief held with rent boy (Scanned newspaper clip)
  • Justice Secretary 'hush hush' on criminal records of lawyers as Crown Office claims its too costly to keep details on legal profession's crooks
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    LEGAL AID THE LAWYERS ULTIMATE RACKET
    slab Compare what is being done under lawyers Legal Aid scams with any other company operations.

    Take the example of a double glazing firm . They buy up any competition and are the only double glazing firm in the UK. They also have plenty of staff who PART TIME act as MPs who make legislation to protect that monopoly. They create a system were only their firm can fit double glazing and hike up the charges to extortionate amounts with NO COMPETITION.

    They then create legislation stating that any new homes or existing homes require a minimum of double glazing to force people to use their services whether they can afford it or not. They instigate legislation that brings about a double glazing board who use public money to provide the funding for their activities for those least able to afford their bills. Then their victims are forced to pay that back over many years or their homes get repossessed when the charges become unbearable.

    This is the bloody system our legal system is operating in and NO OTHER group or company could get away with this utter scam.

  • MORE LEGAL AID SCAMS
  • Secret Scotland : Lawyers immunity from Freedom of Information law
  • Law Society protects legal aid fraudster lawyers from criminal charges
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    DOOMED CASE AGAINST ROGUE GYNAECOLOGIST
    rodneyledward Women in doomed abuse case sue lawyer on £444,000 in legal aid

    Women whose claims of rape and sexual abuse by a disgraced gynaecologist were thrown out of court in a legal debacle are to sue their former solicitor with cash help from the Law Society.

    The women were represented by Jane Loveday, a solicitor who did nothing else for two years but pursue, in vain, the sexual assault claims. In the process, she picked up £444,000 in legal aid fees. Now, more than a dozen of her clients are saddled with unexpected legal bills of up to £15,000. In the wake of the collapse of the case and scathing criticism from a High Court judge, Miss Loveday's practice has been put into liquidation. Miss Loveday faces being struck off while Richard Vosper, her husband and business partner, is being investigated on suspicion of impersonating a solicitor, a criminal offence.

    In an unprecedented move, the Law Society - which became involved when it received reports of papers being burnt in the garden of Miss Loveday's office-cum-home on the day of the collapse of the case in February - is making funds available so former clients can receive independent legal advice on whether they can recover from Miss Loveday the costs they claim they believed they would never have to pay.

    The society's initiative was praised this week by Mrs Justice Hallett. The High Court judge had earlier expressed "enormous concern" over Miss Loveday's conduct in pursuing a case in which, it was claimed, clients' statements were "sexed up" and even fundamentally altered - in one case turning an allegation of sexual assault into one of rape. "Plainly," said the judge, "on the evidence, she's not fit to be conducting any kind of litigation."

    All the women were patients who claimed to have suffered at the hands of Rodney Ledward, an arrogant and notoriously incompetent gynaecologist, who performed a host of botched operations over 15 years in Kent hospitals before being struck off by the General Medical Council.

    He died four years ago and, nine months later, Miss Loveday launched a class action against three health authorities claiming between £100,000 and £600,000 for each of the 59 alleged sexual assault victims on the basis of the NHS trusts' supposed negligence.

  • SOURCE
  • Surgeon sex attack claims dismissed
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    EVIL LEGAL AID RACKET
    slab What separated men worldwide are having to tolerate .Lawyers funded by the state to make false allegations of abuse ultimately to steal your children,home,business and assets.

    Widow agrees to return £1.8m legal aid cash falsely claimed by solicitor

    A SOLICITOR "embellished" claims for legal aid in child welfare cases with false details of sex abuse to fraudulently obtain nearly £2 million, The Scotsman can reveal. In Scotland's biggest-ever legal aid fraud, James Muir made false claims for public money in hundreds of child protection cases over seven years. Mr Muir, who kept a low profile in the profession but was regarded as one of the country's most dedicated and experienced specialist child welfare lawyers, committed suicide after the police began investigating.

    Details of the case have been kept secret for two years while the Scottish Government's civil recovery unit sought to reclaim the money from his estate. Yesterday the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) announced that an agreement had been reached with Mr Muir's family that will see £1.8 million paid back to the public fund. Last night politicians demanded answers over how such abuse could go undetected for so long.

    SLAB claimed the "tragic case" was a one-off and insisted it had improved procedures for checking legal aid claims. Mr Muir's wife Susan, believed to be a serving police officer, has sold the family's luxury home in Bothwell, Lanarkshire, to help pay back the money. Mr Muir, 45, who ran his practice from his home, worked mainly as a custodian, or "safeguarder", for children and minors too young to manage their own affairs or represent themselves in court. The Scotsman can reveal that from 1999 until 2005, he made false claims for legal aid in several hundred child welfare cases. At the outset, he was claiming an average of around £1,000 per case, but by the time he was caught, this had risen to £10,000. To justify the soaring claims, he "embellished" detailed application forms to the legal aid board with fabricated details of sex abuse. He even invented statements between social workers and police officers.

    The fraud came to light after legal aid staff noticed his payments were steadily increasing. Strathclyde Police obtained a warrant to search Mr Muir's home and office on 20 April, 2005. Later the same day his body was discovered on a railway line. A source last night said: "Mr Muir had a niche market, being the only dedicated children's lawyer in the area. All the children existed in his claims, but he made up the grounds of referral from the Children's Reporter and they all, in effect, became sex abuse cases. This allowed him to embellish claims and increase the amount paid." Another lawyer, who did not want to be named, added: "If this had been going on in the criminal court, people would have quickly suspected something was going on. But he was basically doing this work on his own and no-one asked questions.

    "Everyone thought he was simply working and doing well for himself. When it came to light, I think the legal aid board was embarrassed and furious in equal measure." Mr Muir was known to have taken on a large workload and on occasions carried out work he did not claim for. Now, following a long and detailed investigation by the legal aid board and months of negotiations, it is understood that his widow has agreed to give back all £1.8m that her husband received in legal aid over the seven years. Bill Aitken, the Conservatives' justice spokesman, said: "Little can be done to protect the legal aid fund from deliberate theft but the obvious question is: how was this allowed to go on so long without someone noticing?" A spokesman for SLAB said steps had been taken to prevent such fraud going undetected for so long. The body's investigation unit had been beefed up with new staff, with closer attention now paid to claims from lawyers working in specialised areas. Pauline McNeill, Labour's justice spokeswoman, said: "It's important that lessons are learned from this case."

    LEGAL AID BILL COSTS TAXPAYERS MORE THAN £150 MILLION

    SCOTLAND'S legal aid bill cost the public purse more than £150 million last year. Criminal cases accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total, but the civil legal aid bill also rose, for the first time in three years. Last year's total legal aid bill was 2 per cent up on 2005 and brought spending to the second-highest ever level. The figures were disclosed yesterday in the annual report of the Scottish Legal Aid Board. It coincided with new proposals from the board and the Scottish Government to change the way solicitors are paid for legal aid in summary - or less serious - cases. Under the proposals, there will be a "substantial" increase in payments to lawyers in the early stages of a case, with lesser rises for cases going to trial. This is intended to save money overall, as the system is said to favour "not guilty" pleas that are later changed.

    The £150 million cost to the taxpayer was made up of £106.6 million on criminal cases, £39 million on civil cases and £4.5 million on children's legal assistance and contempt of court cases. Over the past five years, total spending has gone up by 11 per cent, or £15 million, mostly because of a £13.6 million rise in the cost of criminal legal aid. Announcing his intention to introduce the legal aid changes next spring, Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, said: "These proposals aim to save time and expense, to avoid wasted effort and to reduce the demands made on victims and witnesses."

    Legal aid winners

    DONALD Findlay, QC, has topped the list for legal aid payments to advocates, for the second year in a row, receiving £358,400 last year.

    The Glasgow-based law firm Ross Harper topped the solicitors' list, also for the second year in a row, at £1.732 million - and 11 other firms of solicitors were paid more than £1 million each. Top-earning solicitor advocate was Iain Paterson of Paterson Bell Solicitors, with £219,300.

    Ten advocates each earned more than £200,000 in 2006-7. They are Donald Findlay QC (£358,400), Ian Duguid QC (£321,600), Edgar Prais QC (£272,500), Mhairi Richards QC (£269,800), Paul McBride QC (£237,800), Gordon Jackson (£228,500), Derek Ogg QC (£213,300), Lorenzo Alonzi (£213,100), Ronaldo Renucci (£212,100) and Thomas Ross (£208,600).

  • SOURCE
  • £1.1m earnings in a year for top legal aid barrister
  • £500,000 lawyer tops legal aid fatcat league
  • EVIL Legal Aid board win Employer of the Year
  • Biggest legal aid fraud repaid
  • Lawyer banned from legal aid work
  • Legal aid bill increases to £150m
  • 20 lawyers convicted of defrauding Legal Aid
  • Solicitor's £325,000 legal aid fraud
  • Lawyer's clerk convicted on massive legal aid fraud returns
  • UK Legal aid bill 'highest in world'
    • LEGAL AID SCAMS
    slab This is were the endless pot of money comes to feed the leeches who abuse the lives of the many who face massive persecution at the hands of monsters who have blood on their hands due to their greed, corruption and wilfull abuse of the legal process.

    Check the top ten abusers of this fund each one should be investigated by the serious crime squad as to how they obtained those funds and much of it on the backs of those who faced massive abuse of their human rights some who did not survive that pressure.