THIS EMAIL WAS SENT THREE TIMES BEFORE WE GOT A RESPONSE
We provide TWO newspaper articles relating to
1. Criminal charges by the OFT being brought against British Airways executives for price fixing.
2. Article relating to the Table of Fees operated by the Executives of the Law Society of Scotland after an OFT warning in 2005
We raise the very serious matter that Law Society Executives and Scotlands Legal Aid Board who are part of this price fixing have been let off the hook and continue to demand MONEYS with threats for massive legal bills that accrued using those illegal "TABLE OF FEES".
We submit this matter as a further complaint over and above the previous investigation that LET OFF THE HOOK executives at the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Legal Aid board who
have massively funded these legal actions under the table of fees and continue to steal land,business and properties to repay illegal court actions funded under that TABLE OF FEES.
If the Office of Fair Trading see fit to criminally charge B.A. Executives then the SAME actions should have been taken against those both within the Law Society of Scotland and their funders the Scottish Legal Aid Board who are continuing their reign of terror against victims like our group who
took complaints to the OFT and gave oral and written evidence to the Scottish Parliament in the Legal Profession and Legal Aid bill in the hope these abuses would stop .
The OFT in failing to criminally charge these executives have allowed their abuses to continue. We demand to know what steps the OFT are taking to address this matter now and seek an assurance that the OFT is not operating a two tier system and letting Law Society of Scotland and Scottish Legal Aid board walk free from the criminal charges that should have been brought against them in the first place.
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Law Society scraps tariff of fees
The Herald March 02 2005
THE governing body of Scotland's 8000 solicitors is to scrap its tariff of recommended charges.
The Law Society of Scotland's decision comes amid mounting suspicion that a so-called "table of fees" constitutes a price-fixing arrangement which flouts European fair trade rules.
Abolishing recommended legal fees could increase com-petition among solicitors and bring prices down.
Last week, The Herald revealed that the Office of Fair Trading, Britain's most powerful consumer watchdog, had warned the society it was risking a huge European Commission fine for co-ordinating the pricing of lawyers' services.
The commission recently imposed a £69,000 penalty on another professional body, the Belgian Architects' Association, for failing to abolish a similar tariff.
The OFT said it would await a society review of the table of fees before deciding on any further action, an option which yesterday's announcement has pre-empted.
The 16-page table of fees, removed from the society's website yesterday, outlines charges for a range of services expressed in "units". Solicitors' letters, for example, are recommended to be charged at 1.25 units for "each page of 125 words or part thereof". A phone call lasting anything up to six minutes should be charged as one unit, the document says, and then at 10 units per hour thereafter.
One society "unit", currently priced at £11.85, has risen in value by 26% since 2001, well above the rate of inflation.
Many solicitors have enjoyed big salary increases in that time, though partly as a consequence of Scotland's runaway housing market, which has boosted conveyancing and estate agency fees. One survey found the average profit-sharing partner in a Scots law firm earned £66,700 in 2003, 13% more than in 2002.
The society said its ruling council had decided on Friday to stop recommending the fees after taking legal advice. The move followed a review of all the society's rules and regulations to check their compliance with European law.
Legal Aid fees, which are fixed by the Scottish Executive and confirmed by the Scottish Parliament, are unaffected by the changes.
Duncan Murray, society president, said it was acting "to comply with European and national law as it develops. The society has also decided to consult with the Scottish Executive, the OFT and the lord president for their views on how this significant change should be effected and its impact on auditors of court, who assess solicitors' fees.
"Firms usually have their own feeing structure based on their running costs, the type of legal work they offer and market conditions, but some still rely on the recommended table for guidance."
He said the the changes "should be good for business as well as clients. Clients are already advised to ask for an estimate of costs from their solicitor, although of course there is more to choosing a solicitor than cost alone."
The Law Society has come under intense scrutiny recently amid renewed debate over whether it should continue acting both as trade association and regulator, a dual role which critics say amounts to a conflict of interest.
South of the border, the bodies that regulate solicitors and barristers – the Law Society of England and Wales and the Bar Council – are separating their representative and regulatory functions amid a wholesale shake-up of legal regulation.
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http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article4402519.ece
July 26, 2008
British Airways executives face charges over collusion to fix prices
by Susan Thompson
Four British Airways executives, past and present, could be charged with price-fixing and face up to five years in jail, according to a report last night.
The cartel case is said to be being brought against the four men by the Office of Fair Trading and charges them with collusion with Virgin Atlantic to fix prices of fuel surcharges between 2004 and 2006.
The four men are understood to be Andrew Crawley, BA head of sales; Martin George, former commercial director; Iain Burns, former head of communications; and Alan Burnett, ex head of UK and Ireland sales.
Mr George and Mr Burns resigned from BA in 2006 after admitting that the airline’s own rules had been broken through conversations with its competitor about fuel surcharges.
The OFT refused to comment. A BA spokesperson said: “BA is unable to comment on a continuing criminal investigation.”
It is only the second cartel case to be brought by the OFT. Earlier this year, three UK businessmen were sentenced to imprisonment for between two and a half to three years for cartel offences.
The 2006 price fixing investigationcase into passenger fuel surcharges, combined with another conspiracy to fix cargo fuel charges, resulted in BA being fined more than $270 million (£135 million).
BA was fined £121.5 million by the OFT and $300 million by the US Department of Justice for colluding with Virgin on the level of fuel surcharges that would be added to their ticket prices. Fuel surcharges are supplements to the standard ticket price and were introduced to cover rising fuel costs. Virgin escaped the fines because it had informed the authorities that the breaches had happened.
The details of the charges being brought against the men are expected to be outlined in the coming weeks, according to the report.
The four men are part of a group of ten past and present staff who have been refused immunity under a plea agreement between the airline and the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) over fixing the price of tickets with rivals. In theory they could face extradition to the US.
In February, after Virgin and BA reached agreement on a class action suit in the US, it was announced that people who flew long-haul with British Airways or Virgin Atlantic between August 11, 2004 and March 23, 2006 would be eligible for a refund.
BA said that about 11 million passengers, including seven million in the UK, were affected by the deal.
At the time the British Airways’ chief executive, Willie Walsh, had hoped that the settlement would give the airline a chance to move on.
“As we have previously said, we absolutely condemn any anti-competitive activity by anybody,” he said.
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