Holiday Sickness
John William Duncombe of Opes Law (Manchester) was suspended by the SDT for issuing claim letters to tour operators without clients’ knowledge or instructions, based on minimal information from claims management introducers. He also concealed 50% fee-sharing arrangements with the CMCs feeding him cases. Sources Legal Futures: Solicitor suspended for holiday sickness retainer failures
Read More →Confidentiality
Slater and Gordon was fined £80,000 (split between two entities) for disclosing unredacted confidential information from 7,087 client matter files during due diligence for its catastrophic £637 million acquisition of Quindell’s legal services division. It was the SRA’s record penalty against an ABS at the time. Sources Law Gazette: Slater and Gordon fined £80k over Quindell file sharing Legal Futures: Slater & Gordon sanctioned for both sides of Quindell due diligence
Read More →Breach of Undertaking
In Harcus Sinclair LLP v Your Lawyers Ltd [2021] UKSC 32, the Supreme Court found that Damon Parker of Harcus Sinclair had signed a non-compete undertaking with Your Lawyers in VW diesel emissions litigation, then breached it by accepting his own claimant group instructions and sharing confidential information with Slater and Gordon. The ruling established that the non-compete was enforceable. Your Lawyers also reported Harcus Sinclair to the SRA. Sources Supreme Court: Harcus Sinclair LLP v Your Lawyers Ltd
Read More →Cavity Wall Insulation
Pure Legal (Liverpool) collapsed with 5,800 cavity wall insulation claims which were transferred to SSB Group. Creditors were owed £40 million and expected to receive nothing. The collapse was part of a cascading chain: Tegamus Law (2019) → Pure Legal (2021) → SSB Group (2024) → JMR Solicitors (2024), each inheriting and then failing with the same toxic portfolio of claims. Sources Law Gazette: Pure Legal collapse bill tops £7m Legal Futures: SSB Law victims pile pressure on SRA
Read More →Claims Management
Professional Personal Claims (PPC) received the FCA’s first enforcement action against a claims management company. PPC was fined £70,000 for using misleading websites displaying logos of five major banks, causing consumers to believe they were submitting PPI claims directly to their banks rather than through a third-party CMC. Sources FCA fines PPC for misleading consumers and banks
Read More →AML Breach
Mishcon de Reya, active in group litigation including the Google “Safari Workaround” data case and COVID-19 business interruption claims, was fined £232,500 by the SRA for anti-money laundering breaches. While not specific to mass claims, it represents one of the largest SRA fines against a major group litigation firm. Sources Law Gazette: Mishcon de Reya fined £232,500 over numerous AML failings
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