The Ministry of Justice has reported a renowned solicitor advocate to the regulator over his misconduct in a decade-long High Court case, after waiting almost a year to make the decision.
Robin Makin, of Liverpool Legal Services Ltd, had sued the ministry for not complying with a ‘subject access’ request and succeeded after a two-day trial in the High Court in 2014. But the high-profile solicitor - known for representing serial killer Ian Brady, the Moors Murderer - subsequently drew scathing criticism from judges for his conduct of costs proceedings which lasted until last year.
The misconduct, as found by multiple judges, included shouting and swearing at a hearing; persistently accusing a costs judge of bias and egregiously overcharging for his case against - in which he was a claimant representing himself - after he tried to bill the Ministry of Justice £936,875, a sum assessed downwards to £55,000.
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Mrs Justice May, in the High Court case last summer, revealed that the MoJ was considering reporting Makin to the Solicitors Regulation Authority because his conduct had ‘been so egregiously bad’.
This was part of the reason why Mrs Justice May agreed to lift Makin’s anonymity, which he was granted in 2014, which had meant he could be referred to only as ‘AB/X’.
‘The claimant’s conduct has been so egregiously bad that the MoJ wish to report him to the SRA. But at present they cannot name him, nor give the name of his previous law firm, nor the name of the company (of which he is a director) now on the record as his solicitors’, Mrs Justice May said. ‘Any investigation by the SRA/SDT must be at least significantly hampered by continued anonymity.’
But after Mrs Justice May’s ruling was upheld on an appeal by Lord Justice Coulson in December, the MoJ did not immediately refer Makin to the SRA.
A spokesperson for the Government Legal Department - which provides legal advice to the government and had conduct of the MoJ’s case - said in December that it was ‘reviewing the decision of Lord Justice Coulson and considering next steps’. By April, the GLD said it was ‘still considering the matter’.
Yesterday, however, a GLD spokesperson told the Gazette: ‘We can confirm that GLD has made a referral to the SRA in relation to these matters’.
