3 solicitors have been dismissed and 3 other lawyers have received fines from the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal at the Yorkshire law firm at the centre of the coal miners’ health compensation scheme scandal. The penalties were announced at the end of a six-week investigation conducted by the SDT into Raleys Solicitors, a firm based in Barnsley and Wakefield.
Six charges were levelled at Raleys’ staff, including breaching rules on practicing as a solicitor, and conduct unbefitting a solicitor. Of the suspended solicitors, one received a 4 year suspension, one a suspension for 2 years and the third was suspended from practice for 6 months. The three partners found guilty of four of the six charges received fines of £10,000 each and were ordered to pay costs of about £800,000. Delivering the six verdicts at a packed hearing, the chairman of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, David Leverton, said that the judgement reflected the fact that: “The reputation of the profession is more important than any member.”
At the height of the miners’ compensation scheme, the six lawyers had been part of a team handling 60,182 claims on behalf of miners. Injuries that were typically claimed for included vibration white finger and respiratory diseases. Raleys persuaded 29,000 claimants to make their claims through a funding agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers, which later lent the Yorkshire firm over £4 million. However the funding agreement and the loan were criticised by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal as they breached rules concerning independent legal advice.
The verdict against Raleys comes on the back of a similar investigation into Doncaster firm Beresfords for skimming millions of pounds out of miners’ compensation. That investigation saw the two partners in the firm struck of after it was revealed they made over £30 million profits after making deductions from the compensation that should have been paid out to the mine workers.
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