James Beresford, 58, and Douglas Smith, 52, both from Beresfords Solicitors in Doncaster filed personal injury claims for miners. Unfortunately for the claimants, the firm took up to 30% of the miners' damages in fees, even though the government's coal health compensation scheme already paid for legal assistance. The two were struck off on Thursday.
Sky News reports that the Law Society has already begun investigations into 67 of the firms who charged "success fees" and 25 have been referred to the Solicitors' Regulatory Authority (SRA). About 30 solicitors have been reprimanded.
The good news is that £350,000 compensation has been repayed to miners so far. The bad news is that the recovered payments will have come too late for some miners.
The Beresford Group is still advertising for industrial injury claims business.
2 comments:
I did notice in the Legal Services Ombudsman's report that she has criticised the Law Society for not keeping such Claim Farmer Solicitors in check!
I did notice in the Legal Services Ombudsman's report that she has criticised the Law Society for not keeping such Claim Farmer Solicitors in check!
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